


Holiday Express Shipping

by BluBooThalassophile



Series: Hopes for a Bastard [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Green Arrow - All Media Types, Teen Titans - All Media Types, Under the Red Hood, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dysfunctional Family, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Holidays, Humor, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-01-31 14:43:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 153,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12683982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluBooThalassophile/pseuds/BluBooThalassophile
Summary: There is but one sentiment which sums up the hell he's found himself trapped in: It's the Holidays, We're All Miserable. He's still trying to figure out how to escape, the Bats are doing the family thing, the Amazons are here, and so is the Queen of Hell, and, is that Roy Harper pulling up with a rusted out POS? What The Fuck Is Going On?





	1. It's the Holidays, We're All Miserable

It was the official mark of the holiday season as Wayne Manor was decorated by the professions in a get up which would rival the White House’s own decorations. It was the biggest deal for Christmas aside from maybe Rockefeller Center. There was nothing more Christmas than the Wayne Manor (well, after having actually seen Rockefeller center Jason felt it was a draw, but he was also from Gotham and Wayne Manor had been the ‘it’ Christmas thing since before he was even born).

Which brought him to today, December 1st, as he tried to evade the little duckling he’d managed to imprint on and had following him around at all times of the day.

No, he did not mean an actual duckling, he meant Terry.

Terry had taken to following him around on his chubby little legs, since the Black Friday fiasco caused by Cass and Tim, and since then Jason could not get rid of the kid. The baby followed him everywhere, well, him and Raven because Jason usually hung around Raven. Raven was still the only person he fully trusted in this godforsaken mansion.

Not that it mattered, as the girls (Cass, Steph and Kori), had dragged Raven off to a different part of the Manor for a ‘girls only’ afternoon and evening.

Which brought Jason to where he was currently hiding out from his two most obnoxious and persistent followers and the dog. Damian also trailed after him, but Jason also felt that’s because the demon spawn had a crush on the little bird, and he was often with the little bird.

“Jay!” a squeal had him bolting up to his feet as he spun up, twisting around as he saw the drooling terror, Terry, waddling over to him.

“Fuck!” he sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, as he forgot about the book he was reading to walk over and scoop the tiny terror up before the kid fell. The kid squealed in delight, Jason grunted as his ribs protested the action, but looked at the kid in his arms. Those bright blue eyes, that happy, wet, smile, kid was kind of cute, but Jason just wanted some PEACE!

“Kay, which moron did you ditch this time?” Jason asked as he walked out of his hiding spot; an abandoned guest room in the east wing.

Incoherent babble was his answer and Jason slowly walked down the stairs the kid had somehow climbed and gently patted the baby with his slung hand until he was at the bottom of the stairs. Jason avoided the workers who were designing the Mansion’s Christmas decorations as he looked for a responsible member of the Bat family to hand the kid off too.

“Terry! Terry!” Dick’s frantic voice could be heard and Jason whistled, Dick skidded around the corner then.

“Oh thank God! I thought he’d wandered outside,” Dick sighed.

“And I thought he was in the nursery, in the west wing with his family,” Jason said sharply.

“What?”

“I was in the east wing, alone, and he found me,” Jason stated as he moved to hand the kid off to Dick. Terry screamed an ear-splitting scream then.

“Fuck! Fuck Fuck! Take it!” Jason shouted as Dick took the kid.

“He wants you, hold him!” Dick ordered as he shoved Terry back into his arm, Terry quieted immediately. Jason scowled. “Seriously, you’ve got to be the baby whisperer or something because they both like you more than any of us aside from Selina; they like Selina. They don’t even settle for Babs.”

“I hate you all,” Jason muttered as they walked for the kid’s nursery.

“But you love the kids!” Dick chuckled.

Jason just sighed, Dick wasn’t too far off. Jason had a major soft spot when it came to kids. It also did not help that one of the ways he’d made quick cash in Crime Alley was babysitting from time to time. He just… kids made sense to him, they were easy to get, and he actually liked them (but not right now). Terry patted his cheek, and Jason looked tiredly over at the kid.

“Jay,” he grinned.

“Yeah, yeah, Duck,” he muttered.

“Duck?”

“You know, because he waddles, and follows me around, like a duckling,” Jason explained and paused to wonder why his sleep deprived mind was now spilling his logic to Chuckles here.

“Cute! Mind if I borrow it for Terry?” Dick asked.

“What the fuck, it’s not like it’s copy righted!” Jason snapped. “Where’s the old man and Selina?”

“Selina’s checkup, then they were doing public Christmas shopping,” Dick filled in.

“And you’re in charge of Helena and Terry?” Jason tiredly surmised.

“Yeah, considering it Dad practice, but I can’t seem to keep Terry in the nursery,” Dick muttered.

“Wait, What?” Jason did a double take of Dick then. “Dad practice?”

“Shush!” Dick grabbed his shirt and Jason stumbled into the nursery as Dick shut the door and locked it before turning on him. Helena was snoozing and Jason set Terry down then.

“Kay, you can’t tell anyone, only Raven knows,” Dick said.

“Tell what?” Jason demanded, feeling like he was about to get the low down on some juicy blackmailing material.

“Kori’s pregnant,” Dick said.

“What?” Jason blinked; that was not the news he was expecting. Oh, he figured Dickhead was taking on a Bruce trait and about to start adopting orphans or something; after all, Bruce was about Dick’s age or younger when he adopted Dick.

“Yeah!” Dick grinned giddily.

“Kori? Princess Traffic Light, is pregnant with your kid? And only Raven, and now I, know,” Jason surmised, he was too tired to really process this.

“Yeah,” Dick grinned.

“Mmmhmmm,” Jason hummed. “Bruce know?”

“No, I haven’t told him, and Kori and I are waiting,” Dick said.

“Oh…” Jason smirked deviously then.

“Why do I feel like I regret telling you first,” Dick asked suddenly, and Jason smiled. Okay, the holidays might be a wee bit more interesting now.

* * *

 

Raven was reading through a few of the demon books Constantine had left with Jason’s things, her eyes scanning the ancient magic language as she looked for a solution to her power shortage problem, and to a few other questions she had about her own physiology. So far she had learn much about her own species and saw why it was so easy for the world to dislike her kind.

Looking up from her book she noticed the girls chatting and stood up as she walked away from the girls to hunt up a snack; an apple specifically. Walking through the Manor she avoided the workers, but found herself at the front door when there was a knock, Raven looked around for a moment before peeking outside to see the Amazons; which had her hesitantly opening the door.

“Hello,” Raven greeted.

“Raven! I am glad to see you are up,” Donna greeted her, Raven was startled at the other’s smile directed at her.

“Donna,” she acknowledged.

“I am glad as well to see that Trigon has not escaped his prison and that you are well,” the Princess of the Amazons smiled at her which had Raven hesitating as she held the door open.

“Yeah, he’s… blessedly silent,” Raven said.

“Not on my end he’s not,” the youngest of the three Amazon’s muttered.

“We are making progress though,” Donna countered.

“Uh-huh,” the teen glowered.

“Have you seen Bruce?” Diana asked.

“Last I heard he and Selina were going to Selina’s doctor’s appointment, I think Alfred is out shopping but… the boys are home,” Raven offered.

“Is Jason here?” Donna asked her.

“Yes, we’re kind of bound together until I’m able to break the seals binding me here, I think he’s…” Raven started.

“Right here,” Jason announced with Dick on his heels.

“Hey Diana!” Dick grinned as he hugged the Princess of the Amazons.

“It is good to see you Richard,” Diana greeted.

“Hey Jason,” Donna greeted.

“Come on I’ll show you to your rooms,” Dick announced.

“Where are you going little bird?” Jason asked.

“To get an apple,” Raven answered as she walked off while resuming her book, looking over the text. Reaching the kitchen, she walked to the fridge to get her apple. Her eyes narrowed ona  part of theoretical text as she tapped her foot to this.

This was not encouraging; but it couldn’t be proven either as there were not many female demons to confirm it and Raven wasn’t entirely certain if her breeding would permit it.

“Interesting book?” Jason appeared.

“Informative,” she answered.

“Why did Constantine leave you books in a language that no one can read?” Jason asked as he gingerly sat down.

“Because this is the language of magic, a universal language,” she said.

“Really?” Jason asked.

“Yes, all magic is in the same language, depending on the age,” Raven said.

“I thought the Zataras spoke backwards,” Jason said.

“They do, and Fate uses Egyptians, I use Azarathian, and many exorcists and other magicians use other languages, but the written language of magic is universal, this book is about demons,” Raven said as she flipped a thick page carefully and continued her reading.

“That’s very confusing,” Jason said.

Raven chuckled then. “I suppose, but it’s helpful to the magic world, simplifying many things between cultures.”

“I bet,” he rolled his eyes then.

“You’re the linguist, wouldn’t you think it helpful,” Raven mused.

“I don’t know, a universal language would defeat the purpose of learning other languages,” Jason shrugged.

“True,” she nodded.

“Hello Jason, I was told he was trailing for you,” Donna smiled as she walked in.

“Oh come on!” Jason groaned, Raven hide her laughter at the sight of Terry reaching for Jason by eating her apple then. “Come here duck.”

“He is rather adorable,” Donna mused.

“He’s a pain in the ass who’s turning out to be a little escape artist,” Jason growled.

“He loves you,” Raven gently slid her fingers through Terry’s hair. The baby smiled at her a tooth grin.

“He’s a drool monster,” Jason muttered.

“I was informed the Amazons had arrived,” Damian appeared then. “Oh, there you are Jason, Grayson was looking for… I see you have him now.”

“And there’s the other duckling,” Jason muttered.

“Be nice, they love you,” Raven warned him lowly as she picked up her book and left Jason, Donna and Damian in the kitchen with Terry.

“Hey! Wait! You’re leaving me with them!?” Jason shouted.

“Good luck!” she called to him as she walked away from him with her nose buried in her book.

“Traitor!”

“Demon!”

* * *

 

He was sitting on the bathroom floor of a feeling light as a kite from his latest score as the baby slept, he feeling… alright, for the first time in over a week he was feeling like himself. His head feel back as he just let the heroin do it’s work, numbing his soul, the baby was sleeping soundly in the carrier.

He couldn’t keep doing this, he knew that, he stared tiredly at ceiling smiling as he felt like he was flying. He had to stop, again, for the good of the baby in the carriage, which was why this would be his last time ever.

Looking at the small white packet.

This was the last one, then… then he’d go, he’d go to get the help Croc had given him the first time. Laying back against the wall he let his eyes shut as he accepted that this was his last time ever. He couldn’t keep doing this, he couldn’t… he couldn’t stop either. Not on his own.

And God knew he couldn’t go home. He couldn’t go there, not after Thea… No.

But looking at the muted TV, his head fell back again as he saw a picture of the people he could turn to, he was going to need their help, he was going to need a lot of help.

A shuddering breath left him as he let the high carry him off from his minimal lucid thoughts then. A worry for a different time.


	2. Off the Wagon, Again

Jason supposed it could be worse as he walked with Terry trailing after him; no, Jason was not carrying the kid everywhere. One, his ribs were killing him, two, the pain killers and booze didn’t work right, they just slowed him down slightly they didn’t give him the right buzz, and three, he was not related to the kid and therefore not responsible for the kid in the eyes of any reasonably sane person.

There was a whimper behind him which had him scowling as he looked over his shoulder at the duckling who had landed on his bottom and looked ready for tears.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, quit the water works,” Jason sighed in defeat as he leant over and scooped the kid up as he resumed walking. Terry did the baby babbling thing which had him smiling a bit, Terry was kind of cute; minus the drool.

“Rae!” Terry announced.

“Well who do you think I’m hunting for?” Jason demanded as he walked straight for Raven’s room. He had kind of had enough at the kitchen with Donna, then Cassandra Sandsmark, and Kori cooing over him and Terry he’d bolted. Raven; the traitor, had left him to fend for himself with a flock of cooing women. Well, two cooing Amazons, and a secretly pregnant Koriand’r, Jason felt like he’d been jipped somehow in that arrangement. Now, if Raven had ditched him in a spring park with the kid and if Jason had either been undercover or looking to get laid then this would have been fine. However, he was trapped in Bat Hell, he didn’t want to be left alone with these lunatics!

Walking into Raven’s room he found her laying on the floor with her legs lifted over her head resting against the bed.

“Rae!” Terry squealed.

“You fiend!” he gasped as he set the kid down, kicked the door shut behind him to keep Terry from wandering and joined her on the floor. “You left me to fend off a flock of hot women!”

“You know, most men say thank you for such offenses,” Raven sighed.

“I would have said thanks except, I’ve got more important shit than getting laid, or pissing off a hormonal Tamaranian Princess,” Jason said as knees bent slow for his feet to rest on the comforter.

“So you know?” Raven mused.

“Yes, Dickhead sucks at secrets, and Terry, that’s my bad arm,” he hissed as the kid clambered on him and over him.

“Jay!” Terry grinned as he sat on Jason’s chest.

“Yes Duck,” Jason sighed propping his good hand behind his head, Rave handed him the spare pillow as a prop and he lay there comfortably then. “So, learn anything?”

“I found out what my three extra organs do,” Raven said.

“You what!?” he did a double take of the woman, she gave him her best bland look then which had him arching a brow.

“I have three extra organs that no one could figure out what their purpose was, not even Vic,” Raven answered.

“Okay then, they useful?” he asked as Terry played with his good hand’s fingers, gnawing on his pinky at this moment.

“Actually, yes,” Raven answered.

“Cool, kid, that finger does not bend that way,” Jason snapped at Terry who was currently trying to bend his pinky backwards.

“You are surprisingly good with children,” Raven observed.

“Kids are easy, it’s once they’re teenagers they’re assholes,” Jason said.

“Agreed,” Raven nodded.

“Any jumpstarts on the powers?”

“Extreme emotional duress,” Raven replied which had Jason scowling.

“I don’t suppose us being trapped in Bat hell for Christmas counts for extreme emotions duress, for you at least, does it?” he sighed, as he pulled his hand from Terry who eagerly grabbed for it only catching air.

“Not yet,” Raven agreed.

“Yet! Ah-ha! So you admit the Bats are insanity!” he grinned.

“They’re batshit crazy,” she agreed.

“Thank God someone else sees that!” he sighed. “Okay duck, stop with the finger chewing! You’re not a puppy, go bug the little bird,” Jason snapped as he shoved the baby onto Raven’s stomach. She grunted at the weight.

“Rae!” Terry squealed as he scrambled over her.

“Ow! That’s my boob!” she groaned as the kid happily snuggled under her chin, gnawing on Raven’s necklace.

“He likes you!” Jason snickered.

“I hate you,” Raven warned him.

“You do not,” Jason defended.

“You’re insufferable,” she decided.

“Kay, I can’t argue that one since I haven’t slept,” Jason shrugged. Raven sighed, but he knew she was neither spiteful or serious about what she had said as they both lay there staring at the ceiling until Terry was finally snoozing.

“We should paint something on the ceiling, make it interesting,” Jason blurted out.

“You’re going to Michael Angelo now?” Raven asked.

“Nah, but I was thinking a target, get some darts or something, play darts,” he grinned.

“It’s going to hurt when they fall,” she observed.

“True, perhaps not darts,” Jason amended. He was about to suggest something else when the alarm went off, which had him and Raven bolting up. Jason ribs, legs, bruises and body protested to that as he toppled on the ground, rolled to his feet and ran for the window. There was a rusted out something which came barreling down the drive way.

“What the hell?” he and Raven muttered, Jason was out though, he was running down the hall, he grabbed one of his guns on the way out of Raven’s room as he leapt over the banister railing, he heard the skid and the crash which only had him running a step behind Dick who had appeared from somewhere else. They both blasted over the snow and ice as they skidded to the car. Jason’s first observations was that the car was on fire and crashed in the old oak in the front of the yard, also, there was the screaming baby.

“Shit, I got the kid,” Jason shouted as he tucked his gun in his hoodie and leapt over the rear of the car as Dick skidded to the driver’s side.

The baby, Jason was guessing to be older than Helena but younger than Terry, was screaming, she was bundled up in purple and pink, and Jason pulled his gun to break the window. Smashing the glass, he cleared it off as he reached over, ignoring his aches as he undid the kid from her car seat. Dick shouted something at him but Jason was too busy, gingerly manhandling the baby into his one arm hold and not slice it up on the glass; his arm on the other hand was going to need stitches. Jason had the baby and was stumbling back as the front seat erupted into flames.

The baby screamed when Jason fell back in the snow, he grunted at the loss of balance and impact as he looked at the flaming wreckage of rust.

“Ouch,” he muttered. The baby was screaming at a deafening level which had him wincing, there was a skid and he found himself looking at dark eyes overhead.

“You alright Red?” Raven asked as she took the baby, who was screaming.

“I’m fine,” Jason grunted as he struggled up, noticing the blood on his arm, remembering the slight sting of slicing it.

“Kay,” Raven stood and started rocking the baby as she walked, he was on his feet slowly when Tim appeared.

“Are you alright?” Tim demanded. “You’re bleeding!” Tim grabbed his arm before he could answer or fight the midget off.

“I’m fine! I’ll stitch it up, let go, now tell me who that asshole was so I can kick his ass for recklessly endangering that kid!” Jason snapped. That was when Jason noticed Dick and Kori shouldering the unconscious man, and he growled as he stalked after them. “Hey!”

“Not now Jay!” Dick snapped.

“Yes now! That fuckstick, putz nearly killed a kid, I’m going to give the schmuck a piece of my mind!” Jason snapped, and he caught Dick and Kori’s icy glares but Jason was livid at this point and did not care what they thought of his next actions or what they thought of their victim. What Jason cared about was the fact that that car; the very car, Alfred, Diana and Bruce were extinguishing, was not even legal for driving, it looked like a fucking wreck! He also was furious because there was no way that guy should have crashed through those gates, or into said tree, also, there was no fucking way with one hand he should have been able to get that kid out of the damn car seat! That said, the kid was lucky not to have gone soaring out of the car seat into the tree!

Upon rounding on the asshole Jason saw the guy was high as a fucking kite; after having seen his mom high, he knew it when he saw it.

“Jaybird? Thought you were dead,” the man slurred.

“Who the fuck is this?” Jason blinked.

“Ignore him Roy, come on,” Dick muttered.

“Wait, Roy Harper? I thought he was clean,” Jason sputtered doing a double take of the strung-out redhead now. The older man was smiling that stupid ‘I’m high’ smile, but Jason recognized the older Red Arrow. He was older, yeah, he had the addict look, unkept, greasy, dying, and the eyes.

“Apparently not,” Dick muttered as he and Kori walked into the house then, and Jason shook his head, a kid, and a strung-out Roy Harper. Fan-Fucking-Tastic.

Jason hadn’t really been fond of Roy, or Wally, when he had been a kid the first time around. They, like Barbara, had disliked him and purposely excluded him because he wasn’t Dick. It was childish, and petty, but the shit teens supposedly did. Jason just remembered being in awe the first time Dick and his friends came over, then hurt that they hated him because Dick hated him. And that summed up what he knew of Roy Harper and Wally West.

Shaking his head, he stalked back into the house, feeling his blood dripping off his fingers.

“Come on Jay, I’ll stitch you up,” Tim offered, Jason looked at his arm then and sighed.

“Fine, just no Frankenstein’s monster stitches or I’ll kick your ass,” Jason warned. He didn’t do the no scar stitches, but he didn’t want to look like fucking Frankenstein’s monster. Made him think of how he must have looked clawing out of his grave.

“I’m not going to do that,” Tim promised. Jason found himself sitting in the Replacement’s bathroom then when the door was thrown open as the demon brat barreled in with the leggy puppy.

“You are an imbecile!” Damian announced.

“Depends on the time of the month, what now, shorty?” Jason sighed tiredly.

“You could have been burned!”

“Uh-huh, and a baby could have died,” Jason pointed out as Tim snickered, Jason glowered at puppy eyes who looked remorseful then.

“You cannot die for a baby!” Damian stated.

“No one was dying,” Jason sighed. “Look, kid, we aren’t family, I’m not your brother, I make my own stupid choices and I take the consequences; but come hell or high water, I’m not letting a kid die,” Jason stated firmly as Tim finished knotting the stitches. “Thanks Replacement,” Jason nodded as he stood.

“That is stupid, father has informed me of the adoption papers, and you are in need of supervision for your stupidity,” Damian started, and Jason shook his head as he passed the kid.

“Kid, if I needed supervision I wouldn’t get half the shit I needed done, done,” Jason pointed out, he heard Raven in the nursery area as he walked so he headed for that. He wanted to check the kid over. Lightly rapping the door before he walked in, he entered with Damian at his side.

“Hey, how’s the kid?” Jason nodded towards the baby, Selina was holding Helena as Alfred checked over the other baby and Terry waddled from Raven towards him.

“She appears to be unharmed Master Jason,” Alfred said. Jason nodded and motioned for Raven to come with him; she was a Titan and might be able to fill him in on what the fuck was going on.

“What the hell was that?” Jason demanded in the hall.

“What was what?” Damian piped up, but Jason was ignoring the kid as he glared at Raven for an answer. Jason really hated it when children were in danger, and Roy Harper had just tried to essentially kill his kid.

“I do not know, what I do know, is that he has fallen off the wagon, again,” Raven answered.

“What’s his poison?” Jason sighed, Raven frowned.

“Shortly after your death, I met Roy, and Oliver had essentially destroyed him, he was addicted to heroin, and alcohol, Dick got him clean four years ago and there had not been a problem since then, as far as I know. If he’s fallen off the wagon, so to speak, then it was a big trigger, because the last I heard he was clean. He has even been subjected to random drug tests since Dick brought him to the Titans,” Raven answered.

“So he’s got daddy issues join the club,” Jason snorted. “I want to know what he’s on now.”

“As a blacked-out empath I cannot answer that, however, if I were to hazard a guess,” Raven sighed as she slipped her fingers into her jean pocket she pulled out a small bag filled with white powder. “Heroin, again.”

Jason took a step away from the bag, he hated this shit, he despised it, and he did not want it near him. “Fuck! Where’d you get that?”

“The baby’s baby bag, Donna got it from the wreck, it was alright, and intact,” Raven said. “I found two of these in a tear in the bag, Alfred pitched her formulas just in case, and has demanded everything in the bag be tested, which I’m betting Tim will be doing the moment we find him. Well also be testing the baby, just… you know.”

“Yeah,” he nodded as he eyed the bag suspiciously.

“I will test these,” Bruce appeared then, and both Jason and Damian jumped at the materialization of Bruce. Raven handed Bruce the bags before he left again.

“How’s your arm?” Raven asked as they started walking.

“Jason is an imbecile and Drake stitched up his arm,” Damian announced, which had Jason smirking with a way to annoy the demon spawn now.

“Replacement stitched me up so I don’t have a scar, much better than anything the demon spawn could do with a needle,” Jason assured Raven.

Damian balked then, and Raven softened.

“What about when I heal you though?” she asked.

“Well then I don’t have shit to worry about, but if the bat brat ever comes at me with a needle and thread do me a favor and end my misery,” Jason asked.

“You’re an imbecile Jason!” Damian squawked indignantly.

“I’m offended!” Jason dramatically declared, Raven snorted, and Damian was scowling, which had him grinning.

* * *

 

Raven was vastly amused with the argument Jason had instigated with Damian, however, she knew she needed to go check on Roy now as she left Jason and Damian together in the library in the middle of their argument. Tim had joined them in the library but was staying out of the argument but appeared entertained by it. Raven felt it was safe to leave them be for a few as she made her way towards the room she’d seen Roy go into, and lightly knocked upon reaching it before walking in.

“Raven!” Roy gave her a lopsided smile then as he was half naked, sweating, shaking, on the floor and propped up against the bed now.

“Hello Roy,” Raven greeted as she shoved her hands in the red hoodie she’d swiped from Jason, and walked to stand over him. “How are you?”

“You’re the empath, you tell me,” he snickered.

“Sorry, Rae, he’s…” Dick appeared then holding some clean clothes.

“He’s about to have a nasty crash,” Raven supplied.  But she never looked up from Roy, slowly she crouched to the archer’s level. “So, Roy, would you like to tell me how we’ve gotten here?”

“I flew to Gotham, and I think I bought a car,” he hummed.

“Mmm, but I mean, how’d you fall off the wagon? Roy,” Raven asked softly, Dick sat on the bed over them, and Roy started snickering.

“I always liked you the best, never mad,” he smiled.

“I’m not mad,” she assured him. “I just want to know how we got from being clean, sober, and going to your meetings and talking with your sponsor, to this.”

“Well,” he drawled. “Waylon went poof! and it didn’t seem that bad of an idea, it was just one drink,” he giggled.

“And the drugs?”

“I didn’t do it willingly! Just, forgot how good I feel,” he slurred tiredly then.

“I see,” she nodded as she reached over and gently moved his matted hair from his face. The man looked up at her with broken eyes and she felt her heart bleed a bit for her friend.

“Thea’s dead,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry,” Raven sighed.

“Cheshire had my kid, I found out, Thea was helping me, we got Lian, but… he killed her. He’s coming to kill us all,” Roy slurred.

“It’s okay, you’re alright,” Raven assured him. Roy smiled a bit.

“Need to get sober, can’t call Ollie, I killed his sister,” Roy muttered. “Please don’t call Ollie!”

“No one is calling Oliver,” Dick assured his friend fiercely.

“Gotta get sober,” Roy muttered. “Can’t let Thea die for nothing. Have to keep Lian safe.” He was muttering this like it was his oath and Raven sighed softly as she stood. Dick jerked his head for her to follow him, and they walked into the bathroom then.

“What do you make of that?” Dick asked her.

“Well, I’m not an empath right now, but I’m thinking he’s telling the truth, he was always honest when high,” Raven sighed as she folded her arms and looked over at the slumped over figure of Roy. “Thea is clearly dead, he wouldn’t lie about that, and he wouldn’t be this… focused?... if it wasn’t important to him. I think the baby is Lian. Whatever’s going on, he’ll only be able to tell us when he’s sober.”

“You know, even without the empathy, you’re good at reading people,” Dick softly informed her. Raven smiled sadly as she looked over her shoulder at Roy.

“I’ve had a lot of practice with reading difficult people, empathy or not. But Dick, I’m sure he wouldn’t have come here if he wasn’t in serious trouble, and he didn’t need serious help. We need to be here to help him.” Raven didn’t know how to help a drug addict, but she had a feeling she was about to be helping in ways she might not be entirely comfortable with. Raven was accustomed to this though, to helping people outside of her comfort zone. Jason was the prime example of this.

“Great, as if the holidays weren’t going to be challenging already,” Dick muttered as he rubbed his brow. Raven sighed as she looked up to Dick then.

“No one ever said this was easy, family rarely is, and whatever is to happen, happens,” she sighed.

“I don’t like your wisdom moments.”

“Jason calls them my zen, voodoo, guru moment.”

“Really?”

“Yes, because I’m right, and he knows it.”

“You know, the first time around, when Jason was a kid, Roy, and Wally, they both hated him so much because I hated him. Now he’s back, and I’m… Raven, I know he’s hesitant about family shit, but I don’t know how he’ll handle having a drugged Roy here, he barely handles Bruce being here.”

Raven looked at her worried friend and pursed her lips as she carefully thought this over before she spoke. “I think, Jason’s capable of handling more than he gives himself credit for. He also sucks at turning people in need away so we can use that to our advantage.”

“Are you suggesting we manipulate my little brother! You ought to be ashamed of yourself,” he mocked. “I like it, when do we start?” Dick asked eagerly.

“Dunno, I’m going to go make sure he and Damian aren’t trying to strangle one another now,” she said as she walked over to Roy again and crouched to his level. The man blearily blinked when she touched his knee gently, his green eyes were so broken and she softened.

“Rae! Pretty,” he slurred.

“Roy, we’re going to help you, if you want our help.”

“Lian…?” he started.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got her, now, let’s focus on you for a bit. Okay?”

“Yeah, you’re so good Rae, not evil demon,” he muttered tiredly.

“Rest for now,” she murmured as she stood, nodded at Dick before she left to find Jason and Damian.

Raven walked down the hall and saw Terry fussing outside the closed library door, the poor baby looked ready to cry as he patted the door wistfully which had Raven chuckling. Scooping up the baby, he squealed.

“Rae!”

“Hello, I’m guessing Jason’s on the other side of that door?” Raven observed. Terry giggled and Raven took that as her answer as she walked into the library. What she found was the largest game of Scrabble she’d ever seen being played.

“That is not a word Jason!” Damian snapped.

“I believe that Damian is right about that,” Donna said.

“It is too, you can even look it up!” Jason defended.

“I’m looking!” Tim and Stephanie announced in unison.

“Which word is not a word?” Raven asked peering over the board to see words in other languages being played.

“Zax,” Jason answered. “They’re just pissed because it puts me on the triple word score with the ‘x’ and the ‘z’. And no, no, no duck, you’re not sitting with me! Or eating that!” Jason pulled one of his letters from Terry’s hand then.

“Zax is a word,” Raven said standing up properly with Terry who pouted.

“It is not!” Damian insisted.

“Apparently it is, it’s right here, in the dictionary,” Tim announced showing it to the group.

“HA!” Jason childishly shouted and Raven left the game as she walked over to inspect the shelves for a book for Terry and her to read; the kid loved being close to Jason. Settling on Narnia, she plopped herself down in a pile of pillows she was pretty sure Damian or Tim had set up in this library at one point and kept Terry seated on her stomach as she opened the book.

“Rae,” Terry grinned.

“You’re a good kid,” Raven chuckled as she mused Terry’s hair.

“So this is where everyone disappeared to,” Selina appeared then.

“Selina! Jason’s cheating at Scrabble!” Tim shouted.

“Is he now?”

“It’s not my fault they have no vocabulary,” Jason shrugged as the game continued. Selina came over to where Raven was reading to Terry, Helena in her arms.

“You’re not playing the game,” Selina observed as she gingerly sat down then.

“The only real competition would be Jason,” Raven pointed out.

“Very true, the boy always did love his books. I caught him once, as Robin, tucked up against a gargoyle reading Shakespeare, Macbeth,” Selina chuckled.

“He seems to like that one a lot,” Raven chuckled as she ruffled Terry’s hair and the boy started playing with her fingers.

“He likes reading,” Selina said fondly. “Terry seems fond of you and Jason.”

“He just likes Jason, I’m the backup,” Raven shrugged.

Selina chuckled then. There was nothing more to be said as Raven resumed her soft readings for Terry, and Selina just sat there quietly listening. There was much to say at this point, just time to relax. Which was what they were doing as the arguments in scrabble ensued; depending on the language used. And it was at this moment Raven wondered if they knew Scrabble was meant to be played in one language, not ten.

* * *

 

Damian scowled at having his word rejected when it could not be found even in translation books, which had him scowling at the game. After an hour it was just down to Jason and Troy, who seemed to be having some sort of competition for which language they could go to that the other didn’t know. It appeared Jason’s linguistic abilities were a match for an Amazon though. It was interesting as Damian watched the game progress, bouncing languages, and it seemed to now be a competition for them.

Raven and Selina seemed to be having a reading time with the babies, and Damian wondered why Raven had not joined their game. Surely Raven’s language skills were superior to Troy’s. Standing Damian left the library to seek out Grayson’s company to see if there would be a way to get Grayson involved in this. Damian rounded the corner to see Grayson walking out of the room, and Damian hurried up to Grayson’s side.

“Grayson you must come immediately,” Damian piped up and his big brother looked down at him.

“What?” Grayson blinked down at him then.

“Troy is flirting with Jason you must make it stop!” Damian stated as he tried to pull Grayson towards the library.

“Whoa, slow down,” Grayson sighed.

“You must make it stop!” Damian announced.

“Dami, Jason’s a grown man, and unless he doesn’t want Donna’s attentions, we’re not messing with it, no matter how we feel about it, Raven and Jason have to sort this mess out on their own,” Grayson sighed.

“But that is… nonsensical,” Damian muttered. Grayson sighed then.

“Hey, come on, I was going to go do some training, it’ll be fun,” Grayson smiled and Damian reluctantly followed after Dick as they walked down to the Cave for some training. The Amazons might appear to be on a vacation of sorts, but there were still the nightly Batman patrols happening.

Father would not be taking time off as Batman, despite the additions of McGinnis, and Helena. Now there was the arrival of the newest imbecile in this house, Harper. Damian did not understand what was going on with Harper, only that Grayson and Kori had allowed him into the house, and Harper’s whelp had almost killed his brother.

Making his way down the Cave he picked up his practice blade as Grayson picked up his own weapons of choice, and they squared off on the mats. Damian was fast to make his move, he charged Grayson and his elder brother blocked as Damian attacked. He didn’t falter as he twisted in the attack, lashing out as he did so. He was thankful that he’d already been wearing his sweats for sparing now. Grayson kicked his foot out, knocking Damian off balance mid air as he tucked and rolled. Springing to his feet he charged Grayson again. Grayson was ready, and Damian went low.

* * *

 

Bruce looked up from the tests he was running to look at the monitors where he could see his family. Raven, Terry, Selina, and Helena were in a corner of the library, reading; Alfred was feeding the Roy’s baby girl in the kitchen; Jason was playing a game with Donna, Stephanie, and Tim; Diana was with Cassandra and Cass in the greenhouse, and Roy was currently curled up shivering in the bathroom.

Bruce’s ears twitched hearing Damian and Dick sparring, and he sat slowly in his seat.

The tests were conclusive, the baby’s DNA was a match for Roy’s on the paternal side, the maternal side was a match for the assassin known as Cheshire. Bruce rubbed a hand over his face as he tried to think of how to make this call.

On one hand it was the responsible thing to do, to call Oliver Queen and alert him to the fact that Roy was here, and going through withdrawals, and had a baby. On the other hand, Roy and Oliver’s relationship was a well-known disaster in the League and it would probably be disastrous for Roy to be in contact with Oliver at this moment.

However, Bruce would have given anything to get a call saying Jason was alive, that someone had him, he was safe, and Bruce could come get him. That was the parent in him though, and Bruce didn’t want to think about denying another parent the opportunity to have their child. Talia had kept his children away from him and it had devastated him.

Bruce reluctantly picked up his phone as he dialed Oliver’s number. Leaning back in his chair he stared up at the ceiling as the phone rang.

“Queen residence,” a perky, happy female voice greeted him.

“Oliver Queen please,” he replied tightly unsure of how to be polite about this.

“Oh, sure, Oliver! Phone!” the woman shouted.

“In a minute Felicity!” Oliver shouted. And Bruce frowned, so he was speaking to Overwatch, he’d never heard her actual voice, though he’d seen Felicity Smoak, and encountered her a time or two.

“Oliver Queen,” a voice greeted him, the tone brisk.

“It’s Bruce, and I was calling you to inform you that I am aware of the whereabouts of Roy Harper,” Bruce said as he looked at the monitor holding the young man’s image. Roy was currently throwing up and alone for the moment.

“Roy? You know where Roy is?” Oliver sounded desperate then.

“I can’t tell you where, but when he’s sober, I’ll have him give you a call,” Bruce said.

“But he’s alright?” Oliver asked anxiously.

“Yes,” Bruce answered and with that he hung up. The parent in him felt better about this, but the furious man in him wondered how Oliver could have done all that to the young man. However, Bruce’s righteous fury about the matter perished when he looked at the screen to see Jason now sitting with Raven, Terry, Helena, and Selina.

He’d failed horribly too, the only difference was that Jason had become an addict, he’d died.

Perhaps Oliver would have a second chance with Roy rather than suffering that loss.


	3. Jason Todd: Marksman, Badass, Explosives Expert, Baby Whisperer?

It’d been a day since Roy had crashed here and Jason didn’t like it, he didn’t like it one bit But that wasn’t his worry as he perched himself out of the way in the library to hide out from Damian and Terry, however it appeared not to be a deterrent for Dick.

Raven was with Tim for a reason he didn’t know, he knew she and the other Robins were close, and he also knew he could not monopolize all her time. Even as he plotted his escape; not that he was betting any of it to work. Trying to get around Constantine’s magic was not something he’d successfully done, yet, but he was determined. Jason could not stay here, he couldn’t, it’d only been a few weeks and he couldn’t take it anymore. If he didn’t get away he’d go bouncing off the walls.

Also, the Pit was there, and he could feel it itching beneath the surface of his exhausted psyche.

It didn’t help he was glued to the news (about the worst fucking thing on the planet) when Raven wasn’t around waiting for that fucking clown to break out. Yeah, Jason was strung out, and about at the end of his rope now with the stress of all this. And Raven; God Bless Her, was the only one who’d been dealing with his bad moods as he tried to hide them from everyone else in this house.

Apparently his hide out wasn’t a good one as Dick walked in with Helena, crying in his arms, and Jason scowled down there.

“Hey little wing,” Dick started.

“I hate that name,” he spat out from his perch up on top the tall shelves of the library looking up from his book and down at Dickhead who was looking up at him expectantly. Seriously, what the hell did these people want from him!? Just because Dick got all mushy on him on the bus and he said he’d try did not mean he was actually going to just be all buddy-buddy with him! The only one he was buddy-buddy with was Raven, and that’s because the empath was actually his friend!

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad,” Dick was gracefully scaling up with a wailing Helena.

“It is, and what the hell is wrong with the kid!? What’d you do to her!?” Jason snapped as he took Helena from Dick then and she settled.

“Well, nothing, we were looking for you to solve… that,” Dick sighed sitting up there with him. Jason groaned as his head fell back. Fuck him, he was nothing more than the baby whisperer apparently. He didn’t get it! He wasn’t even that likeable! “And why do you hate little wing so much, it’s a good nickname.”

“Dickhead, I don’t know if you actually remember what little time I had here, but you were an ass,” Jason spat out, Helena was holding his finger with utmost fascination as her tiny rosebud mouth opened and she began sucking on it. He gave the newborn a bland look, her eyes were hooded then.

“Oh trust me, I know,” Dick said miserably.

“Do you?” Jason asked coldly as he narrowed his eyes on the elder.

“I actually do, and am very aware of it. I wasn’t lying, Jay, on the bus, you can ask Raven if you don’t believe me, but I meant every word I said, and I wish I could go back in time and stop me from being such a dickhead to you. But you have to admit you weren’t easy either,” Dick sighed.

“I know, but difference is Dick, I tried,” Jason stated. Because that was the truth, that was the thing Barbara, Dick, and Bruce probably forgot, he had tried so hard in the beginning to get them to like him. But at a point he accepted that they weren’t going to like him. Which meant it was something broken in him, something which drove people away. That had been a rather harrowing realization, especially after the Joker (after Bruce and the Joker, not the first time with Shelia), and it had kept him away. One could not lose someone if they had no one, and Jason had accepted having no one was easier.

“You were a little shit and you know it?”

“Yeah, after I realized that none of them wanted me, they wanted you, dickhead. It’s all Bruce, and Babs wanted, they wanted you back. They didn’t want me, I was a poor man’s Dick Grayson, and even then I was a piss poor replacement for the real thing,” he pointed out bitterly. Roy had been the one to say that to him on one of his first encounters of Speedy, or Red Arrow, or whatever the fuck Roy had been calling himself at the time. Wally had even said something similar to him on their first or second meeting. Jason got the message, he wasn’t Dick so he wasn’t going to welcomed.

“What? That’s not true,” Dick started.

“’You’ll never be Dick’, ‘You’re not the Boy Wonder’, ‘You need to be more like Dick’, ‘Dick would never do that’, sound familiar, it’s all I ever heard. And then when you were here you made it your mission to let me know I wasn’t welcomed or wanted, and you didn’t even want to be here!” Jason hissed the last bit out because he knew his voice would break if he spoke it. The only person who seemed to have ever wanted him was Catherine, and she couldn’t even stay sober for him because the pain of the cancer was too great. Also, heroine was cheaper than chemo. “I was just happy having some place warm, dry, safe to be, I was happy to go to school; to get to go to school, I was happy to have food, that’s all I’d ever dreamed about. And Bruce brought me in, and I thought I could have a family, I guess that that’s what pushing your luck is like. None of you actually get having nothing, Dick. None of you, and I was handed it, and I just wanted it.”

“I didn’t know,” Dick muttered.

“’Course you didn’t, you had a good life before Bruce, and Bruce tried to give you everything you wanted, you don’t get it and you will never get it.” Jason stated. He looked at Helena who was still contently sucking his fingertip, she was so tiny, and warm, and did all babies smell this… clean?

“I’d still really like to try, Jay,” Dick sighed. “I want my baby brother back, for really, and I swear I won’t… well, we’ll fight, brothers fight, but I won’t ever try to turn you out again. I, we, really want you back. Bruce, Alfie, me, Tim, Dami; Dami really wants you here by the way, Babs, Steph, Cass, and Selina, we all want you here.”

“I don’t do families,” Jason repeated and squirmed his finger in Helena’s firm grasp, the baby lazily opened her eyes in a glare which had Jason internally melting; this kid would be a heartbreaker!

“How about friends?”

“I don’t recall you being a female empath demon, do you?” Jason asked blandly.

“Jay, please,” Dick sighed. “I will work as hard as I need to, to prove I wasn’t lying on the bus, but you have to give me something, it doesn’t even have to be much. Please, I won’t let you down. I won’t.”

Jason internally debated this as he studied Helena’s face, she was a cutie, and he could see a lot of Selina in her, but he was about ninety-eight percent certain that her eyes were Bruce’s. Damian had Bruce’s eyes too, Jason made a mental note to study Terry’s eyes to see if this was just a Wayne kid thing. Looking up at Dick’s earnest blue eyes he debated again what good would come of having a family again.

Thus far families had been as followed:

-Abusive

-Painful

-Cruel

-Complicated

-Traitorous

-Miserable

However, there was that part of him which wanted the family, wanted to have a family, wanted brothers, and Bruce’s approval. Not that he was ever likely to get Bruce’s approval; Jason took pride in his marksmanship, and he wasn’t afraid of any truly lethal weapon, nor was he afraid to kill assholes who needed it. Then there was the matter of brothers, Dick had proven to be a shitty brother the first time around; however that didn’t stop Jason from making his deals with the devils he had; like Slade, to keep these assholes safe. And then there was the list of people he knew after the skills and secrets he had, and one of these days, someone so much worse than Waller would come for him and he would not be able to out fight them. Having Raven as a friend and ally was only so much, compared to some of his enemies the little bird was fucked if he called on her for help; because Jason (while a one man wrecking crew who could and had taken out small armies), was going to need a fucking army if he came head to head with some of his past.

“No mushy shit, I don’t do chick flick moments,” Jason warned. “And if you try to fucking interfere with my shit, I walk. I want to hear nothing about the guns, or the killing, because unless you’re the one doing it, you don’t get a fucking say.”

“So you’re really going to give me a shot?” Dick asked, the hope oozing from his voice had Jason tempted to bolt. But his ribs would not like landing hard on the ground or running, which had him glaring at Dick instead.

“You cross boundaries Dick and I walk, I have enough shit to deal with I don’t need you interfering with my fucking life.”

“I can do boundaries!”

Jason snorted at this as he pulled his finger from Helena’s sleepy grasp.

“First things first, how do you do that?” Dick pointed to sleeping Helena.

“I just do it?’ Jason answered uncertainly.

“Seriously, Jay, I need to know,” Dick said.

“I don’t know Dickhead! Raven does it too, ask her!” Jason demanded.

“Are you just a baby whisperer or something?”

“Yes, yes, I am, it’s on my business card: Red Hood: Marksman, Badass, Explosives Expert, Baby Whisperer,” Jason rolled his eyes.

“You should teach me the trick, for my own kid,” Dick muttered.

“Dick, your kid is going to be flying, you have a different set of issues than stopping crying,” Jason retorted. Jason had read the file on Kori’s powers; several times, because at one point he’d been working on a nullifier for her powers on a job he had taken and he didn’t want to be blasted to the moon. Needless to say the job didn’t happen because Ding Dong Daddy stole that fucking case; and Jason knew the last ties to who he was were in that case and he wanted it before Dickhead. Not that he’d gotten it, no, Jason did have honor in him, so he’d instead wrecked the competition while clarifying one thing to all asshole villains.

Jason was on his own side.

Of course, the best part of that day was sunshine driving that ridiculous yellow school bus, and giving him that bland question.

“Shit, I forgot about the powers, and the emotions,” Dick paled; Jason smirked. “Don’t laugh, you’ll be babysitting the kid!”

“I will do no such thing!”

“You’ll be an uncle!”

“I am not!”

“We just got through hashing out you’re my brother.”

“No, I agreed to try to be friends, I don’t do family, Dickhead!” he snapped.

“You’ll still be called to babysit.”

“I won’t.”

“You will.”

“I will not.”

“I’ll give the kid to Rae, and she’ll call you and we all know you’ll do anything for Raven,” Dick smirked.

“You don’t know me very well if you think that,” Jason retorted.

“Oh please, she calls and you’ll come running, she does the same for you,” Dick pointed out. Jason would not admit to this being true, ever, even if it was. All Raven ever needed to say was ‘help’ and he’d track her down and kick the ass of whatever she was in danger from. But that’s what people did for friends, and she did the same for him. Just look at what she’d done for him during the A.R.G.U.S. and Waller mess in November! He didn’t think anyone had ever done something like that for him, not to mention the Lazarus Pit. Raven was a saint, and the best example of a true friend in his mind, and if she ever needed his help, he’d come with everything he had in his arsenal ready, and primed for attack. No questions asked.

“So what, doesn’t mean I’ll come running if she’s got babysitting duty,” he defended. Helena was smoothly transferred over to Dick and didn’t rouse at all.

“You really like her, not romantically, I mean as a friend,” Dick observed.

“I respected her as an adversary, and yeah, Dick, I like her company. Raven’s actually good company, and she’s way too good for assholes like us, demon or not,” Jason shrugged.

“Oh, so you think that too,” Dick chuckled.

“I don’t think it, I know it. Why the hell she’d befriend us is beyond me,” Jason admitted and picked up his book again. he was going to have to have a serious talk with Raven about what to do with the Pit because it was still clawing at his psyche. He needed an outlet for it, and Raven’s empathy was out. If he didn’t get this itch under control soon they all might be in deep shit.

“Cause she loves us!” Dick answered with a smile.

“I take that bullshit excuse to mean you have no idea why she’d tolerate any of us aside from Victor because Victor’s her brother, and I’m pretty sure Kori’s her best friend,” Jason answered.

“Yeah, pretty much, because she could blast us into another dimension when we annoy her,” Dick agreed. “Oh, my favorite color, it’s blue, Jay.”

“And I need to know this why?” Jason asked looking up from his book.

“Because… if we’re, friends,” Dick said the word like it was foreign on his tongue. “Then we should know one another. My favorite color is blue.”

“Dumas,” Jason replied. “Favorite author,” he said at Dick’s confused look. Dick nodded and then smiled at Helena.

“I’m going to put her down, Selina’s napping, so I’m on baby duty, you should visit Lian, she’s attached herself to Raven.”

“We’ll see,” Jason muttered as he resumed his book; he wasn’t really sure what he was reading but it was a romance, and it was quiet; it didn’t agitate the Pit. Jason had come to learn quiet things were best when the Pit was close to the surface. He looked at the spine to check what he was reading; _Emma_ , Jane Austin; okay, he hadn’t read this in a long while.

* * *

 

Raven sat on the floor of her claimed room with the books scattered around her as she held a ceremonial knife in her hands as she read over the blood spell. This spell did not require her powers, just a minimal magical energy (which she had a small amount of), the ingredients, and she had them all; including the demon’s blood. Standing up she slipped the knife in her teeth as she started pulling her hair up and grabbing the salt and the candles. She needed a memory, which would mean this to be like meditation, however, blood was going to be needed to bring this memory forward.

She looked up when the door opened.

“Uh… little bird? What are you doing?” Jason asked.

“I’m looking for a memory,” she answered as she started sorting through her ingredients, pulling out the bones, and a few relics. “I am need of counsel and since I can’t ask Azar herself, I’ll dig through my memories.”

“Uh-huh, I thought you didn’t have magic,” he said.

“I don’t have powers, magic is not really something of a power, it’s a natural state of a Homo Magi,” Raven said as she lifted up the raven’s feather. She’d been looking for that, putting it back she continued digging through her bag of things.

“I’m confused.”

“On one side of my family, my father’s, I have demon’s blood, which means I have a wide range of abilities and powers: telekinesis, flight, weather manipulation, shadow manipulation, animal communication and manipulation, teleportation, ectara; which I currently don’t have because, black out. Then there’s my mother’s family, and my mother, had a minimal gift for magic. Human magic, not the dark arts. It’s two different kinds of energy, however, because of my dual nature I usually use both simultaneously, with my father’s demon blood amplifying my natural magical abilities so I am incredibly powerful.

“Now, when I experience my black outs; rare as they are, I experience my normal magic depletion. However, because I am part human I do still possess a minimal magical ability, nothing grand, just enough magic to perform simple spells. I cannot open gates, or create shields, or heal, or most of the other magic I normally perform. Human magic, because of my dual nature, is not something I can usually use without the aid of my normal magic reserves.

“But for this, I have enough,” Raven said as she picked up the book and read over the spell, twirling the knife in her fingers as she thought about where it would be safest to perform this spell.

“Isn’t that Fate’s symbol?” Jason asked, and she looked over her shoulder at him.

“Yes, and no, the ankh, it’s a popular rune in the magic world, it means life,” Raven said as she picked up her bag, opting to do this where she couldn’t do damage to the Manor if her magic got away from her. Without the aid of her demon heritage, she wasn’t certain how her human magic would work.

“Alright, and these belong altogether meaning what?” Jason asked as he took the book and showed her.

“It’s a spell, Jason, to bring memories to life, I need to speak with Azar, and as I am human at this moment, that means my usual methods are out,” Raven said patiently.

“Wait, you can actually commune with the dead? Does it take a Ouija board or something?” he asked gleefully.

“Yes, I can, it’s not easy, and I do not do it often but I can. And no, actually, it does not, a Ouija board is some hoax that a human with no magical abilities started,” Raven stated irritably.

“Who do you talk to then?” Jason asked.

“Usually?” Raven asked. Jason nodded. “My mother, I just… I like hearing from her. Oh, and Azar, though not as much with Azar anymore.”

“Hey, when you listed your powers you didn’t list the empathy thing,” he observed.

“That is because that particular ability is one only I have that is neither human nor demon,” she answered as they made their way down the stairs.

“Why is it out then?” Jason asked.

“Because I draw the most strength and power from it, my empath abilities flow into my magic, my demon abilities, my soul, and into my very being. It is my greatest power and my greatest weakness, and when I am without powers I am without the empath abilities I normally possess,” she shrugged. Walking bare foot out into the snow she determinedly stalked for the tree line Jason a step behind her.

“So, what are you following me around for?” she asked once they were in the trees.

“The Pit,” he answered. She stopped and turned to face him as she carefully assessed his eyes.

The green tint swirled in them, illuminating them momentarily before vanishing. She reached up and touched his brow, feeling a slight heat and fever, but she frowned.

“It could be close to the surface because of your current injured stated, you are healing quickly, but still slow,” she pointed out.

“I know why it’s here, I just… I don’t know if I can keep it under control with my stress levels,” he muttered. Raven pursed her lips, she knew it took a lot for Jason to admit he couldn’t control something, and she knew that he didn’t like admitting it; even to her. But this was a serious matter, and she didn’t have empathy at this moment to knock him out or drain him if he lost control. And if he were to lose control then he would not really be able to be stopped; even Bruce, Dick, Tim, Cass, Damian, and everyone else would find him to be difficult to stop. If they could stop him.

“I might have a way to help, but you’re going to have to do exactly what I tell you, and I don’t care how ridiculous you feel, you will do it without a word of complaint, or I will give you a hell with the likes which you have never seen,” she warned him coldly. “I might not possess powers right at this moment but Jason, I am not completely hopeless without them.”

“Got it,” he nodded.

“Good, now first, I have to do this, then we will tackle the Pit problem, one thing at a time.” pulling out her ceremonial knife she found a clearing in the snow which she felt was perfect, Jason took to the trees as she dropped her bag and started pulling out her materials. Slowly she worked on carving the pattern into the snow as she placed the candles, her feet were getting cold but she ignored it. There were ceremonial reasons for this. Once everything was lit and ready Raven pulled the knife from her pocket.

Azarathian slipped from her lips and rolled off her tongue with ease as she slit her hand deep to draw a good portion of blood but not enough to hurt her as she lifted her fist up and let the first drops hit the center of the pentagram.

The flames erupted to life a brilliant green and Raven watched carefully as the flames followed the runes and the pentagram as it melted the snow away, the grass flourished and there was a warmth as the smoke swirled before her and then dissipated as Azar herself stood there, and Raven’s smaller form stood beside Azar as Azarath in it’s former glory shimmered out before her.

Releasing her fist Raven moved to stand beside Azar to listen to the conversation her younger self had dismissed once. Stuffing her hand in the pocket of a hoodie she now noticed was Jason’s she looked out on her home as it had once been.

She listened intently to Azar this time, rather than being the impatient child she had once been as her magic flickered. She did not have long, she knew that, her human magic was flickering and would vanish in a minute.

But that was all she needed as she looked at the older woman.

“Thank you,” she whispered as the memory flickered before it shattered and Raven stood in the patch of grass. Alone, with her supplies in a mess.

“That was… uneventful,” Jason said.

“Just because you did not see it did not mean I saw nothing,” Raven pointed out.

“I guess that’s true,” he muttered.

“Come here and help me clean this up and then I’ll help you with the Pit,” she said picking up a bandage for her hand as she slipped the knife in her back pocket. Jason was down in a second as they collected her things and walked back to the Manor.

“Mind me asking what you saw?”

“No, I saw home, and Azar,” she answered as she looked away from him and at the ocean. “I miss home.”

“Don’t we all?”

* * *

 

“What do we need her body for? A dead girl cannot tell us where he is,” she spat out furiously.

“No, but a dead girl can tell us where he would go,” he answered coldly. They’d had the body of Thea Queen for over two weeks and were no closer to finding Roy and her daughter now than they had been when that bitch was dead.

“Patience is required, Cheshire, we will find your daughter and Roy Harper,” he said. “And then, I will personally end him.”

She said nothing as she glowered at the body of a woman who had been her rival.

Thea Queen had always had Roy Harper wrapped around her pretty, little, spoiled finger. Even when she had successfully pried the angry Roy from the grasps of the Arrow Clan, Thea had always had a hold on him. Now the bitch was dead, and she stared at the broken body of the slender woman who she had once wanted to kill.

“I might have a source,” their third companion offered.

“Who!? Not even my sister would tell us where he was, even if he returned home to the Arrows!” she demanded.

“The Titans, I have an in with them,” he answered.

“Very well, find Roy Harper for us Deathstroke, or it is your head I will seek, Roy must not be allowed to divulge the plan,” their current leader growled.

“You should never trust an addict in love,” Slade muttered as he walked away.

“Whoever said I trusted the fool?” the leader asked looking at her. She looked away as she scowled.

Honestly, she did not know what had gone wrong with her, or her hold over Roy. All she knew was that the moment Roy saw Thea Queen was the moment she’d lost him. Roy had then started talking about getting clean, and about going home with Thea; which she could not allow. The pregnancy would not keep him, even if that was unintentional, and these past few months she suspected Roy and Thea of being in communication and planning to get Lian out with them. Thea had caused this, and Thea was now dead on this slab.

And Jade’s daughter was with her strung out, drug addict, boy toy!

When she got her hands on Roy Harper he was dead, he would wish he’d never met her, or encountered her, and she would make him suffer for having taken her daughter from her. Lian was not his to take, especially when he was high on drugs.

Of course, Jade had gotten him hooked again to keep him under her control, but now this was too far.

“Don’t worry, we will eliminate Roy before the before the plans are in motion, he is a liability which no one will believe because he is an addict,” Slade stated.

“Good, failure is not an option, we have come too far to fail,” their leader spoke as he walked into the shadows again.

Jade merely snorted.

It was time to pay sister dearest a visit for information on the broken arrow.

* * *

 

Damian walked the halls, with McGinnis on his heels and Titus at his side as he hunted down where Jason and Raven had disappeared to. He rounded the corner into Grayson.

“Grayson, have you see Jason, or Raven?” Damian demanded, and he scowled when McGinnis grabbed his leg, Grayson was holding Helena.

“Yeah they were going to meditate in the basement; something about the Pit,” Grayson answered.

“I see,” Damian muttered, he could not go to the Cave with McGinnis following him, father had said no babies in the Cave.

“Come on little D,” Grayson smiled as he scooped up McGinnis who gave an ear-piercing squeal of delight. “Bruce will be back tonight and you’ll go on patrol, Selina’s napping, and the girls are doing whatever girls do when shopping for Christmas. We got the place to ourselves!”

“And what are you proposing we do?” Damian asked as he walked after Grayson.

“It’s the holidays, and we’re family, so… we’re going to have some fun!” his eldest brother grinned then.

“Are we certain of this fun?” Damian asked.

“It’ll be fine Dami, just, some brotherly mischief at the holidays, and you bonding with Terry and Helena, and maybe Lian,” Dick said.

“I do not like this.”

“Dami, you’re going to have to get used to this, they are here to stay,” Grayson said tiredly.

“And what if father tosses me out because he likes them better!?” he snapped irrationally.

“Bruce isn’t going to do that, he loves you Damian, he might not show it, but he does love you, and we’re working on getting Jason back, it’s just going to take some time on that front. Also, you’re going to be an uncle, so you have to start getting used to babies,” Grayson stated and Damian stopped in his tracks.

“What?” he blinked.

“Yeah, Dami, you’re now not only going to be a big brother now, but an uncle, and it’s our secret until Christmas because Kori wants to announce it,” Grayson smiled.

“You… You are happy about this?” Damian asked uncertainly.

“Yeah, but Damian, you’re still my baby brother this doesn’t mean you’re being replaced or discarded, we don’t do that in this family, even if we have to work at the family thing,” Grayson stated calmly.

“Will you… still, like me?” he asked, and shifted on his feet.

Grayson sighed and suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder which had him looking up at his elder brother.

“Of course I like you Damian, I love you, you’re my baby brother, and me having a kid, yeah, it’s going to change things, but you’re my baby brother, and I love you and that’s not going to change. Also, this means, you’re one of the eldest, these kids are going to look to you, Damian, and that’s special,” Grayson said.

“Really?” he asked skeptically.

“Yeah, being a big brother, and an uncle is cool, and I think you’ll be great at it,” Grayson stated confidently.

“As good as Jason?” Damian asked; Jason had this thing with babies were they just settled for him.

“Probably not that good, we have to get him to tell us how he does the baby whispering thing, him and Raven both,” Grayson said with a conspiratorial tone.

“I will find out!”

“That’s the spirit, now, come on, we got brother mischief to get into,” Grayson decided as he scooped up McGinnis.

“Would it be acceptable if I were to call you ‘Dick’ rather than Grayson?” he asked suddenly and Grayson faltered.

“Yeah! Yeah, that’d be great Dami!” the smile on his brother’s lips had him nodding as he walked with Dick then.


	4. Bird Brains

Oliver Queen was not the best at this mentoring thing; or parenting. He knew that, Diggle and Tommy had tried to steer him right, and Felicity tried to as well. But Oliver was pretty sure he was on the list of people not meant to be a parent.

This didn’t mean he didn’t try, God knew he tried.

He’d been working his ass off with Connor, and Artemis; and neither of them were easy. Digg’s daughter was also not a child he had an easy time with. However, he was… he was trying, and he liked to think that in the nine years since he’d picked up the mantle of the Green Arrow, he was improving. But Roy had been his first apprientice; a hotheaded, stubborn, determined fool at seventeen who’d dragged Thea after him in his pursuit for the Green Arrow. Oliver had loved that boy like her were his little brother; though looking back on a lot of the shit Oliver had done he could see how Roy would think he hated him.

After all, that’d been what there big fight was about five years ago before Roy joined the Titans with Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and the demon Raven; there were others in the Titans too, but that wasn’t the point. The point was he’d driven his own apprentice away, and into drugs, and falling into bad habbits, and the Titans had picked him up when Oliver couldn’t even reach the boy. And the Roy had disappeared earlier this year. The Titans had said he’d gone on a sabbatical, but not even Felicity could reach him; which was concerning because Felicity and Roy were close. And then there was the call from Bruce.

And it was that call from Bruce which had him in the Wayne Enterprises private elevator up to Bruce Wayne’s office.

He’d never actually met Bruce Wayne, the man was a good decade older than him and Oliver was so busy salvaging his family’s company after what Merlyn and his mother had done that he barely had time to be Green Arrow and a part of the League. Not that it mattered as he was show to Bruce’s office.

“Mr. Wayne is expecting you, right this way,” a secretary announced. And he found himself following the woman into Bruce’s office. The office was sparse, huge and open, very impersonal. Except for a book case with photos littering it.

“Mr. Wayne will be in shortly, make yourself comfortable,” the secretary said as she left him alone. Once alone Oliver walked over to the photos, he recognized Thomas and Martha Wayne, almost immediately, they were hard not to know when his father had had a picture of them in his study at some picnic or something. The other photos were of Bruce Wayne with various kids, his kids, if Oliver was to guess correctly. He recognized a few, Dick Grayson, Timothy Drake, and Damian Wayne, but there were other kids on this case he didn’t recognize.

A particular photo caught his eye of a broad shouldered teen in a leather jacket and smiling brightly; there was something familiar in how the boy in the photo carried himself.

“Mr. Queen,” a brisk voice greeted behind him.

“You have a very large… family,” Oliver observed turning on Bruce. “I’m here because you called about Roy.”

“Yes, sit,” Bruce ordered. “Tea or coffee?”

“Coffee, one sugar, bit of cream,” Oliver said as he waited impatiently. Bruce appeared a few moments later with his own mug as he handed Oliver one. “So Roy, you know where he is.”

“I do,” Bruce nodded.

“And…?” Oliver prompted impatiently.

“Mr, Queen, I called as a courtesy to inform you that your boy is alive, and safe, I did not call you so you could come and harass him, he’s specifically requested not to see you at this time,” Bruce said calmly.

“Then how do I even know if you actually have Roy?” he growled a bit. “Roy doesn’t even know a Wayne or has ever been to Gotham!”

“Roy has been a friend of my eldest, Richard, for a few years, they met during Richard’s wild phase and have since been friends, I have met Roy a few times, he’s a nice young man. However, in this matter I am to respect his wishes, you boy… fell off the wagon again,” Bruce said cautiously.

“What?”

“Yes, at this moment in time he does not wish to see you, he is going through withdrawals and attempting to go cold turkey to get clean. I can assure you that he is safe, and he is being well taken care of, but beyond that I cannot tell you anything else.”

“Then why the hell did you call me!?” he spat out furiously as he surged to his feet.

“Because if it were one of my boys I would want someone to tell me they were safe, now sit down,” Bruce’s voice grounded the last bit out as an order Oliver felt compelled to follow. So Oliver reluctantly sat as he glared at the older man. “Mr. Queen, I am aware of the situation you find yourself in and I know exactly how it feels. However, I am also aware that addiction is a challenging thing to overcome, and until Roy is ready to be face you, he should have the right not to.”

“Damnit,” Oliver muttered.

“However, as a man who’s been where you are, I am more than willing to keep you in the loop about how Roy is doing and handling recovery,” Bruce said.

“I’d like that,” Oliver admitted. He looked at the coffee and then he looked up at Bruce. “Have you ever messed something up so badly with one of your kids that you didn’t think there was a chance in hell you’d ever be able to fix it?”

“Yes,” Bruce answered.

“How’d you fix it?”

“I’m still working on that.” Bruce’s reply gave Oliver some solace then.

* * *

 

“Okay, and why am I doing this again?” Jason asked.

“Because, I said so.” Raven replied as they sat in the living room with her knitting needles.

“Raven, this is ridiculous, and I have a sling,” he started again which had her arching a brow at the supposed invalid sitting beside her as the _Grinch_ played on the television. Terry was cuddling with Lian; whom he’d taken a liking too. Selina had been keeping Helena close when Helena wasn’t with Alfred, Dick, Bruce, or Jason. Damian was sitting on the couch behind her with Titus, Dick and Kori were off somewhere together, Tim was trying to play a game of chess against Stephanie and Cass (who had at some point teamed up against him), and Donna and Cassie were both reading.

“If you try to pull the invalid card again I’ll truly handicap you Jason,” Raven warned.

“Fine, I really don’t like this though,” he muttered.

“It’s not about liking, it’s about having something to do,” Raven countered. She actually liked knitting and she was working on her Christmas gift covertly this way. Not that they would know that until Christmas.

“Did I piss you off in another life or something? Because as a former subject of Hell, I have to tell you that this is cruel and unusual punishment, Queen,” Jason warned her.

“And as your Queen I’m telling you again this is nothing, just shut up and keep knitting; we’ll go have a snowball war or something later if you want,” Raven decided.

“Fair trade,” Jason muttered.

“Good, now keep knitting,” Raven ordered. She’d mostly started looking for ways to entertain him and keep the Pit at bay for the time being. Yesterday after her magic spell they’d gone dancing; it was a fast, nonviolent way for him to wear himself out. Today she was making him focus and keep his attention on the knitting needles rather than something that might agitate him; like the news. She didn’t her empathy to know he was stressed being in Gotham, having Bruce and his family around, and the possibility of Joker escaping.

“You are an evil creature,” he muttered.

“I’m Queen of Hell not heaven.”

There was a crash over them, and Jason sighed.

“I got him,” Raven said setting her needles out of the babies reach as she got up and walked quietly to Roy’s room again. Alfred was running errands and Raven had started taking care of Roy as well. Silently she navigated the halls to his room and paused in front of his door as she lightly rapped it.

“Roy?” she called out. No response, she grabbed the handle and tried to push the door open but it wouldn’t budge. Shit! “Roy! Come on! Open this door!”.

“Move little bird,” Jason’s voice had her turning out of the way she managed to glimpse as Jason rammed the door off it’s hinges and shoved it aside. Raven was a step ahead of him then and found Roy collapsed at the foot of his bed.

“Shit,” Jason muttered.

“Roy, Roy, come, look at me,” Raven said as she checked his pulse, it was there, and there was a nasty bruise forming on his cheek as if he’d creamed the foot board of the bed.

“Looks like he lost his balance,” Jason observed, Raven looked over her shoulder at the toppled bookcase as Jason lifted it up. Raven checked Roy over for any other immediate injuries when the redhead blearily opened his eyes.

“Hey Rae, watcha doin’ here?” Roy muttered.

“Helping you, come on, let’s get you up,” Raven said as she took Roy’s sweaty hand. Heaving Roy to his feet was not an easy task, but Jason helped her after the initial struggle.

“Hey, Jay! Thought you were dead,” Roy muttered.

“What’s it matter to you?” Jason growled.

“Always wanted to apologize,” Roy slurred. Jason rolled his eyes as he helped her shove Roy onto the bed. “Rae?”

“Hmm?” she hummed as she picked up a damp clothe and wiped his brow.

“Ollie know I’m here?” Roy asked her, there was a tremor of fear in his voice.

“No,” Jason answered before she could. “Bruce might tell him you’re safe, but B wouldn’t rat you out just yet.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Roy muttered as he relaxed again. “How’s Lian?”

“She’s good, Roy, healthy, Terry loves her, and she’s in the best of care until you’re ready for her,” Raven offered as she set the cloth aside and gently brushed Roy’s bangs back. She’d admit that a few years ago she’d had a bit of a crush on Roy, however, she wasn’t seen as anything other than a friend to him.

“I’m not… no, she needs real parents,” Roy started weakly. Raven swore she could feel Jason scowling at that statement, and just before she could cut Roy off he continued in his babbling. “I’m gonna fuck it up, I always fuck it up. Thea, Jade, I’m a screw up, I can’t be a kid’s dad. I can’t. I’ll fuck it up!”

“Will you shut up!” Jason snapped. Both she and Roy looked at Jason. “Yeah, you’re going to fuck it up, everyone fucks up, so pull your head out of your ass and realize its about that kid, and not you. She needs you, so grow the fuck up!”

“Jason,” she started.

“No, he doesn’t get to toss his kid aside because he’s not ready, or because he thinks he’ll fuck it up. He doesn’t get to do that,” Jason spat out.

“Jason,” Rave said carefully.

“Who the hell do you think you are!?” Roy spat out.

“A throw away, you don’t get to do that your kid, Roy, and since I am a throw away I can tell you she’ll hate you more for that than any fuck ups that may or may not happen when she’s growing up, you fucking asshole,” Jason snarled. Raven was up and between him and Roy when she saw the flash of green in Jason’s eyes.

“Jason,” she kept her tone firm as she put a hand on his chest. The taller man glared at her, but Raven held her ground. Jason wouldn’t hurt her, she knew this, Pit rage or not he wouldn’t, Roy on the other hand… Raven wouldn’t stand aside for Jason to beat him up. Even if she kind of wanted to kick Roy’s ass herself for the shit he’d gotten himself into, again.

“He wants to throw her away!” Jason hissed.

“No, he doesn’t, now calm down or leave, I can’t have you lose control right now,” Raven warned him coldly. He narrowed his eyes on her, but Raven pushed against him harder then. Finally he got the message as he took a step back and folded his arms to glare at Roy. Raven folded her arms and held her ground as she gave him a bland look.

Jason took another step back for her and she turned back to Roy. Sitting on the bed again she looked blankly at her friend who was glaring at Jason.

“Roy, you’re not doing anything for or against Lian, yet, you’re going to have to wait and make these decisions once we are certain you are clean and sober. If necessary Dick has agreed to be her guardian; if you should need a legal guardian for her, until such a time you are capable of taking care of her,” Raven informed him. He seemed lucid enough right now that this information might sink in for him, or not. Either way, she was telling him now so he knew what was going on.

“Fine,” Roy muttered.

“Good, do you need anything?” Raven asked as she sat there patiently.

“No, not hungry, just sleepy,” he muttered.

“I’m going to bring you up a bottle of water, and some crackers, I’ll come sit and read to you in a bit,” she assured him as she stood then.

“You’re too good for us,” Roy slurred, Raven didn’t respond to that as she grabbed Jason’s ear and dragged him out after her. Jason gave a low growl but once she closed the broken door she spun on him then; he opened his mouth; no doubt to argue but Raven cut him off.

“I don’t care, Jason, I don’t want to hear it. If you cannot behave when he’s around then I can’t have you around him,” she started. “Right now, no matter what he says or does, he cannot be Lian’s legal guardian, he can barely take care of himself, I wouldn’t trust him with a butter knife, let alone a three month old. And second, when he’s sober, it is his right, as her parent to think about what is best for Lian, and that might not be with him.”

“He wasn’t talking about that, he was talking about ditching the kid,” Jason snarled.

“He’s going through withdrawals and until he’s sober, I’m not going to trust what he says, now I’ll meet you in the basement in ten and you will do everything I tell you or so help me Jason, I’ll make your life hell,” she snapped as she walked away from him.

* * *

 

Jason scowled as he sat in the Cave waiting for Raven, he knew that he was agitated, and Roy Harper had always rubbed him wrong, but the mere idea of Roy giving Lian up; it wasn’t the idea, it was the tone Roy had used which had infuriated Jason.

Alright, he got it, addicts did not make the best parents; his own mom was a prime example of that. Not that it had stopped Jason from loving Catherine Todd, no, his mom; addict and all, was his mom and the only mom he felt mattered after what Shelia did to him. And yeah, he’d admit that having an addict for a parent was not good, but the tone with how Roy had spoken of giving of Lian…

Even at his mom’s worst she hadn’t used that tone; the tone that he meant nothing. No, that tone was Bruce’s before he died. When Bruce had thought he’d actually killed Felipe Garzonas, which Jason hadn’t! The mook had thought himself so tough, until Jason had dropped down, and before Jason could even touch that putz; who was flying high as a fucking kite by the way, the asshole had jumped, and being intoxicated plus scared, stumbled, and slipped right over the edge.

No Jason hadn’t killed the fucker.

But he sure as hell hadn’t saved the monster either.

And no, Jason could not ever find it in him to regret not saving Felipe Garzonas. The bastard had deserved so much worse than what he’d gotten in the end for what he’d done to those women. Jason didn’t like bastards who could pick on defenseless women, and he really hated assholes who could and would hurt kids. Bruce could argue with him until the sun exploded on this matter; but Jason knew for a fucking fact, abusers like that weren’t reformed by the justice system. Fuckers like that drew too much power off of the abuse they dealt and power was an intoxicating drug as Jason had learned.

He looked up when Alfred walked down the stairs, and looked the ever stoic Brit he was when he stopped before Jason.

“Hey Al, if you’re here to yell at me about Roy save it, Raven will lay into me about it, so team up with her so I get it all over at once,” Jason sighed. A Raven and Alfred team up was something he knew no one was likely to ever stand a chance against; it might even beat Bruce.

“Actually, Miss Raven, has found herself busy handling another matter with the aid of Master Richard for the help of young Mister Harper,” Alfred said as he sat. “She has asked me to come speak with you.”

“She would,” Jason rolled his eyes at that information. Alfred merely gave him a look of indifference as he sat down.

“Master Jason, I realize the amount of stress you must find yourself under,” Alfred started.

“Sorry Al, but you really don’t know anything about my stress levels,” Jason stated flatly. He wasn’t trying to be rude, but he wanted them to know, they didn’t know him anymore; if they ever had to begin with.

“Master Jason,” Alfred’s tone sliced through all his snarky defenses, and sarcasm making him feel about two feet tall again and that was not a great feeling to be honest. No one; not even Zed or Raven, could make him feel so small as the butler could with a simple tone. Which had Jason reluctantly looking over to Alfred; really looking at the man and he waited for the delivering lecture that was no doubt going to come telling him to accept Roy Harper, flaws and all. “You have every right to be upset on the child’s behalf, but please try to refrain from making matters worse. It would be very unproductive if Mister Harper relapsed and it would likely not be good for Lian in turn.”

 “Fine,” Jason muttered. “I still don’t like him!”

“Neither, Miss Raven, nor myself, expect you to like him. However, we ask you not to make matters worse,” Alfred said.

“I can try,” he submitted. It wasn’t like he was good at making things better, he could get shit to go to Hell real fast, and had come to consider it a natural talent.

“That’s a good lad, I will be making lunch, you are not required to join, Miss Raven said she will be here soon to help you with the Pit,” Alfred said as he stood then.

“Raven told you about the Pit?” Jason winced.

“No, but I have been around for quite some time Master Jason. I’ve picked up a thing or two,” Alfred smiled at him slightly as he walked out.

Jason groaned as his head fell back and he stared at the Cave for a long time as he just breathed, savoring the cool damp air as it filled his lungs. He’d never been fond of underground areas after his resurrection; and he felt that was rightfully so. Even now, in the open area of the Cave he was feeling a bit claustrophobic. But there was a peace he could find in the darkness and the silence of the Cave.

He sensed her before he heard her or saw her, which had him sitting up. She looked like the shadows, even now without her powers she looked like the shadows. Raven paused before him, her body was relaxed however he saw the way she was watching him. Not like he was feral, but rather like she’d done something wrong.

“I won’t apologize for getting between you or Roy, or for pulling your ear out of there,” she said monotonously. “But I will apologize if you thought I was no longer your friend for my actions.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” he muttered.

“I do, even though I know we do not have many boundaries, I know when I cross yours and I will admit when I am wrong because you are my friend. However, Roy is also my friend, and though he is not as dear to me as some others, he is important, and I would not like it if you hurt him. You don’t have to like him, I’m not overly fond of him right at this moment either, however, you do have to give him courtesy, not respect, but courtesy.”

Jason looked up at her, and frowned but sighed. “Fine, I just promised Al I wouldn’t make things worse anyways.”

“Good, now, come on, we’ll get the Pit out of your system,” Raven grabbed his arm and pulled him up. He groaned but followed the small woman’s demands as she picked up some of the sparring equipment.

“Teach me,” she ordered as she tossed it at him.

“You do know you’re asking an assassin to spar with you, right?” he asked her dryly as he twirled the staff. “Even handicapped, as I am, this will hurt.”

“Jason, I survived years in Hell, fighting for my life, I know I do not appear to have much in the hand to hand combat skills, but neither am I completely helpless. Now, teach me,” she ordered.

“Your choice, first we’re changing,” Jason stated. He wasn’t going to risk killing her if she was wearing some loose clothes for him to grab just right and break her. Raven was human right now.

“Very well, you as well.”

She disappeared in the girls area and he walked to the locker, found a pair of Bruce’s sweats, and noted that he was about the same in the leg as his mentor even if he was a few inches shorter. Once he got the sling off, and was in sweats, no shirt because moving his arm hurt that much, he was ready. Raven was waiting for him dressed in what he was assuming were Cass’ clothes.

“Are you sure you want to do this, little bird? I could really hurt you,” he pointed out. in sheer size he had an easy hundred on her, and this wouldn’t be like at the Watch Tower where everyone was there to intervene or Raven could drain him if he got out of control.

“Scared I’ll kick your ass?” Raven asked monotonously.

He snorted. “Hardly.”

“Then don’t worry about me, this is a method to channel the Pit, so, teach me. The Pit is violence, Jason, you teach me how to fight, and I’m going to teach you how to harness the Pit. Consider this a double lesson,” Raven said.

“Whatever you say Princess,” he shrugged. Jason made the move. Raven was quick as she evaded, slipping around him as she whacked him with her own staff. He stumbled, twisting around to see her back to him.

“First lesson, do not let the Pit control your body,” she ordered. He lunged, she twisted again, out of range as the staffs rang out with a noise.

“Second lesson, never believe what I’ve showed you to be my skillset thus far.” She walked to the other side of the matt.

“You’re a tricky little bird,” Jason observed.

“I’m a demon, Jason, I might not be the best at hand to hand, but do not think me completely inept at it,” she smiled.

“In that case, I won’t go easy on you, sunshine.”

“Never asked you to go easy on me, that was your choice.”

* * *

 

It wasn’t so bad, it wasn’t wonderful, but she could honestly say that it was not so bad as she sat there in the room of a nice house and stared out at the west coast snow. Gar was out in the forest, they’d had another fight. Everything they did was a fight now, and Tara didn’t know why as she fell back on the couch.

Well, she knew why, she just didn’t want to think about how wrong everything was going.

Gar didn’t trust her, at least not completely. And that bitch Raven had made it a point to prove to Tara every turn and every step of the way, that she was better, and God it was so infuriating! Raven wasn’t even that dangerous, or powerful! She just used the shadows to do her bidding and she…

Tara sighed, no the real reason she hated Raven was because Raven was Garfield’s ideal woman, and Raven didn’t even know Gar existed anymore. Tara had tried to let go of some of the bitterness she had for Raven. After all, Raven brought her back to life. But it was not possible, because Raven had a piece of Gar that Tara knew she could never reach or touch.

It was the part which would make their love true.

Her phone buzzed and she picked it up thinking it might be one of the brats from the Tower calling about where Gar was. She had sort of burned all the bridges every Titan had tried to form with her. They didn’t like her. She would never like them.

“Hello,” she answered tersely.

“Hello, Terra,” a smooth deep voice greeted her which had her gasping as she bolted up. “Surprised to hear from me?”

“Not really, a bit relieved,” she answered. Standing she walked to the window.

“So I take it as in you’ve had enough of the Titans,” he mused.

“More than enough,” she growled. The earth trembled a bit with her emotions. “What do you want Slade?”

“Nothing much, I just need a bit of information,” he answered.

“And in exchange I get what?” Tara asked.

“How about a shot at the Titan you hate most, I’ll give you the edge,” Slade offered her.

“You have an edge on her?”

“My dear, you need but ask, and I will tell you exactly how to destroy Raven,” Slade answered.

“Deal.”

“Very good, now…” he started.

* * *

 

Damian was sitting in his room with the security camera footage rolling from the Batcave as he watched Raven and Jason spar. And on his other screen he had Skype open with Jon.

“It’s pretty cool! All snowy! And Dad said Conner and I have been doing so good controlling our powers we can go sledding! Kara’s being a butt though,” Jon pouted.

“I do not see what you are complaining about, fat-girl will not leave us alone,” Damian admitted.

“How’s everything over there going?” Jon asked.

“I do not understand the appeal of babies or this wretched holiday requiring family time and forced merriment, it is like it is a torture everyone is forced to endure,” Damian huffed. He winced when Jason creamed Raven hard with the staff. But she whacked Jason’s knees out from under him as she went down.

“Any other evil plots?” Jon asked.

“I will get Jason and Raven together!” Damian stated.

“Oh, I don’t know Dami, that just… why not leave it alone?”

“Because Troy is infringing on Jason,” Damian snapped. He’d seen how Troy looked at his brother, it was the same stupid look Kori got when she looked at Dick. Or Kyle got for father. It was not acceptable. “I have read that during this holiday there is a way to force a couple to kiss.”

“You mean mistletoe?”

“Yes!”

“Damian,” Jon sighed.

“It will work, it works in all the books and movies,” Damian pointed out. he didn’t really know how couples actually got to the couples part of a relationship. But he was about ninety percent certain that kissing had something to do with it. Perhaps getting them to kiss would fix this problem.

“You have to make sure it’s them together though, or Jason could kiss Donna or something,” Jon supplied.

“What!? I did not read that,” Damian said as he rummaged for the book he’d swiped with this information. It was a Harlequin Romance from Kara’s room; he was curious what all the Tower girls had been giggling about.

“Yeah, tradition is you hang the mistletoe in the archway, and the couple who walks under it has to kiss,” Jon supplied.

“Then how would Jason come to kissing Troy?” Damian demanded.

“Because if that’s who he walks through the door with that’s who he’s going to kiss,” Jon explained as if this were obvious. Damian scowled.

“That is unacceptable.”

“I didn’t make the tradition, I’m just telling you how it works.”

“There will be no mistletoe for Troy!” Damian snapped.

Jon snorted and snickered then was floating with full on laughter. Damian sometimes really hated having the brat for his best friend, like now. Could Jon not see how serious of a matter this was!?

“I wish you luck control that!” Jon howled.

“It will work!” Damian stated.

“Good luck, I gotta go, it’s time for Christmas shopping!” Jon ended the call and Damian was left sitting there scowling.

He was going to have to enlist help to assure that his intentions did not go awry.

Unfortunately, that meant he’d have to speak to Drake or Dick about this.

He was going to talk to Dick first.


	5. Merry Xmas Bitches

Dick looked over the Manor grounds as he stood there on the phone. “Yeah, Wally, he’s here, I mean, he’s not, because he’s detoxing. But Roy’s here.”

“Shit,” he heard his speedster friend mutter on the other end of the line. “I can be there in under an hour.”

“I don’t think it’ll do much good at the moment, Wally,” Dick said it so tiredly as he looked at the snow-covered gardens.

“Why not?”

“Jason’s here too,” Dick answered sitting down on the window seat then. It was really sinking in just how horrible he’d been to Jason, he and his friends. Jason was putting it how he saw it, and Dick hadn’t even thought about it when Jason had been here the first time around. Now Jason was here, and so many things were clearing up for him. And it was becoming abundantly clear that Jason’s favorite person in this Manor was either Raven or Alfred. Though he tolerated the rest of them. Jason was starting to make Dick think of a grumpy cat. However, if there was one thing Bats were good at, it was persistence; or stubbornness; depending on who was talking, and he would get to Jason somehow. His baby brother could not keep going through life alone.

“Really? How’d you accomplish that?” Wally asked; stunned.

“Thank Raven, she and Jason are here because of Constantine sealing Raven’s demonic self here.”

“Cool,” Wally sounded like he was eating something. “Hey, I get that Jason’s there and everything, but seriously, I want to come over. See Roy and everything, I was supposed to have an eye on him before…”

“I get it Wally,” Dick managed; they were all supposed to have eyes on Roy. But Dick was stretched thin, and life was moving forward, they hadn’t kept as close of an eye on Roy because Roy was sober, and clean. Plus Roy finally had his shit together. Their mistake.

“Look, I promise to make amends with Jay, and work on that, but Roy’s my friend too, and he needs a friend Dick,” Wally pointed out.

“Promise to seriously work on making amends with Jay, and I’ll say sure. But Wally, I’m warning you, the whole family wants him here and we’re working really hard not to mess this up again, so please, whatever you do, do not make it worse. Because Jason will likely try to antagonize you into something,” Dick admitted.

“I can be better than him,” Wally said stubbornly.

“If you screw this up for us, I’ll get Raven in on my revenge plans Wally, and make no mistake, she takes Jason’s side,” Dick warned.

“Really?”

“She’ll pitch you under a bus if you agitate him,” he said solemnly. He had no doubts who Raven sided with in this house, and she’d intervene between Jason and them, however, she was on Jason’s side.

“Huh, I never thought Rae to be the type to go for the bad boys,” Wally snickered. Dick rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think that’s happening right now, maybe later,” he chuckled.

“Okay, but seriously I’ll be there in an hour, I’d be there in less, but the brat’s gotten addicted to eggnog,” Wally muttered.

“Bart’s not that bad,” Dick encouraged.

“Easy for you to say, he’s not the one calling you slow poke,” his friend muttered sourly. “And Jinx is moving back to India, she wants to find herself.”

“Well, you two did break up because of her feeling crowded,” Dick pointed out.

“Which is weird because we were already miles apart,” the speedster sighed sadly. Dick got it, the first big, serious relationship Wally had gotten into was with Jinx, he had even brought her over to the Titans. They had been high school and college sweethearts, a pair that seemed able to make it through anything. But this past year had been their undoing, Wally working and living in Central City, Bart’s arrival, and Jinx losing a few friends in an attack by H.I.V.E., it wasn’t easy for them and things had crumbled between Jinx and Wally. And they’d crumbled painful and fast.

“Don’t question it, you two are friends, and she’s already talked to Raven about her transfer,” Dick said as he let his head fall back.

“I want her to be happy, she hasn’t been happy lately. Hey, I’ll be there soon, and I’ll be on my best behavior,” Wally promised.

“Kay, see you then,” Dick said as he hung up. Kori walked in then and was sitting across from him.

“You do not look happy,” Kori observed. He looked at his girlfriend and softened a bit as he sat up, pulling her into his lap, her wildfire hair spilling around them.

“I’m happier now,” he smiled as he kissed her neck.

“Dick,” she sighed.

“Wally’s coming over,” Dick informed her as he clasped his hands around her waist, her fingers were tracing patterns on his chest.

“It will be nice to see him,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah, but I think it might stress Jason out more,” Dick admitted. His grip on Kori tightening a bit as he rested his brow on her shoulder. “I want my brother back, Kori, I want him home, I don’t want to worry about him anymore, I want him safe, and home, and here, with family, where he belongs. And Wally, Roy, and I made it our mission to make him feel like shit, and now he doesn’t think this is home.

“I get how Bruce and I have made him think that, looking back on a lot of the shit we did to him. Not Bruce, Bruce was so proud of him, and so happy, and such a good dad for him, he was trying to be a dad. And I was jealous and petty, and I wanted him to know I didn’t like him. Then everything with Bruce and the Joker… I just want him home. And Roy here isn’t helping him,” he admitted tiredly.

“It will work out, I believe it will, Raven can work miracles with Bats,” Kori said softly. He leaned into her touch while her fingers slid through his hair. Thank God for Kori, he’d be lost without her.

* * *

 

Raven was holding Lian as she walked the kitchen; she’d been instructed by Alfred on how to make a bottle for a baby. The baby was gurgling against her toweled shoulder, and Raven’s hair was out of grasping range as she lightly bounced the baby and walked the kitchen.

“You’re surprisingly good at that,” a voice announced from the door which had her turning to Tim, she smiled lightly.

“It’s easy,” she assured her friend.

“I don’t think so, Helena screams if I come near her crib and Terry cries if I get near him.”

“Come here,” Raven gestured. Tim reluctantly walked over and Raven gingerly moved Lian to his arms, Tim went stiff and white as snow. She tossed a towel on his shoulder. “Alright, bring her up, and keep her supported, gingerly, she’s not going to bite Tim, and there you go.”

“Wait! Don’t leave me!” Tim panicked.

“I’m not going anywhere, I’m sitting right here, and I’m making her bottle, just walk around and gently bounce her, you’re doing fine Tim,” Raven promised as she propped her head up on her linked hands and watched the teen as he started walking around.

“Huh,” he muttered. Raven’s lips twitched as she watched him and she kind of wanted to take a photo but she didn’t want to freak Tim out.

“Is this how come you and Jason are so good with babies?” Tim asked so hesitantly and softly she’d have missed it.

“Jason’s just naturally gifted with kids,” Raven shrugged. She’d met up with him a few times in parks, and kids were just something he got. There was one time they’d run into a five year old who was lost, scraped her knee and was not having a good day. She and Jason had bought the kid ice cream and tracked down her mother, Jason was just good with kids, as the kid had taken to him like a duck took to water. And Raven, she’d admit to using her cheat of empathy at times, but after Melvin, Timmy, and Teether, kids had gotten easier. Thinking of them she needed to call them in their foster home down in Australia and wish them a Merry Christmas, she’d already gotten them their Christmas gifts.

“And you?” Tim asked.

“I cheat, usually, I use my empathy, but right now, I don’t have it, so I just guess it’s something I’ve got,” Raven shrugged. Getting up she tested Lian’s bottle, and gingerly took the baby from Tim as they sat again.

“Um…” Tim fidgeted a bit as she fed the baby.

“What Tim?” she asked patiently. Even with empathy the Bats all required a patience she didn’t always possess but she tried.

“I just, I wanted to ask you if there was anything we could do for Jason. You know, to make him, like us,” Tim fidgeted.

“Ah,” she nodded. “Well, he already likes you guys, and that’s why he hates himself.”

Tim balked. “Why!?”

“Because he doesn’t think any of you feel the same. I can’t blame him, from what he’s told me, and what I know about how it was then, it’s easy to see why he thinks this. So, my suggestion for reaching Jason, is patience, and persistence, and making him feel wanted. If you make it feel like obligation he won’t come around to you or your brothers,” Raven said softly. Lian was enthusiastically suckling the bottle, softening a bit Raven traced Lian’s cheek with her finger tip.

“But we do want him,” Tim muttered desperately.

“Tim, I know it’s not easy, and he’s not going to make it easy, you asked me though, and I told you. Start small, if you start big, he’ll panic and bolt. Start by asking him to watch movies with you, or read with him in the library, invite him to snowball wars or whatever it is brothers do, start small though. Rushing him will have him bolting,” Raven assured Tim.

“You rushed him,” her companion countered.

Raven gave her friend a bland stare before sighing. “I didn’t. I crashed into his life because he stole my mind, I then forced him to help me retrieve said mind, and bonded with him while doing so. Then I let him escape, after having declared him my friend, gave him a cell, and spent a month texting him with one sided conversations before he finally got annoyed enough to text back to tell me to knock it off. From there I then proceeded to just include him Tim, that’s all I did. I included him. I met up with him for movies, for reading, for simple days out at parks and for lunches. I told him about everything going on, and I include him. That’s all he wants, to be included, but he’s going to fight you every step of the way because, while he wants it, he also fears it being snatched away after he’s got it so he won’t take it to avoid losing it.”

“That’s confusing.”

“It does not have to make sense, Timothy, it is how he feels and thinks. Just like your anxiety and depression, or Dick’s ADHD, or Damian's hyper aggression, it’s a part of how he thinks and feels and it doesn’t always make sense; even to him. I’ve spent months proving I’m not leaving him, and I’ll probably spend years proving it to him until he finally believes it. Jason’s not going to make this easy Tim, and there’s no right way to approach this, however, I’d approach it slowly because dragging him in all at once will be the fastest way to have him bolting thinking it’s a trap.” Raven moved Lian to burp her, and the baby giggled a bit as Raven stood.

“You seem to know a lot about this,” he observed.

“Tim, I’m an empath, I know all emotions, and even if I do not possess my empathy right at this moment, I’ve spent many months around Jason just getting to know him. Trust me, slow and steady is what’s going to win him over, permanently.” She bounced Lian a bit as she started the pacing again.

“I can do that!”

“I know you can, why do you think I’m telling you,” Raven smiled.

“You’re a very devious person, Rae, it’s surprising,” Tim decided.

“Demon, I’m born devious,” she assured him. “And you’re ready for your nap,” she turned to Lian who’d just given a bit burp on Raven’s toweled shoulder. The baby gurgled as Raven shifted shoulders for Lian and walked out of the room with Lian.

“Rae, you’ve mentioned Jason loves us, but, how do you know that?” Tim asked walking beside her.

“You mean aside from the empathy?” Raven asked.

“Uh, yeah,” he nodded.

“It’s obvious Tim,” she assured him. “I’ve known him about six months, and he loves all of you, it’s so obvious. He’s very aware of everything you and your brothers are doing. He keeps up with you, Tim. He might not always like you, but he loves all of you so much he keeps up.”

“Really?”

“Yes, now, I’m putting Lian to sleep, then how do you feel about a few rounds of chess?” she offered.

“I’ll set up the board!” Tim decided as he jogged off. Raven just sighed as she walked into the nursery and softly lay Lian in her basinet. The three month old wriggled a bit, smiling a little as she yawned. Raven gently toyed with Lian’s black tuff of hair before she stood and waited for the girl to close her eyes. Once Raven was certain the baby was sleeping she walked out of the room quietly, Terry was napping solidly, then she made her way to the study.

Pausing at Roy’s door Raven peeked in on her other friend, he was restlessly sleeping but Donna was sitting in the room and reading. The Amazon looked up at Raven.

Donna walked over to Raven then. “I did not think he should be alone, after yesterday’s fall.”

“He shouldn’t,” Raven agreed.

“I’ve got him,” Donna whispered looking over at Roy. “I did not know a person could be so broken,” she murmured sadly.

Raven hesitated a moment before placing a hand on the Amazon’s shoulder. “He’s strong, stronger than we are giving him credit. Right now he just needs a bit of compassion, and some support, he will come back from this.”

“You sound sure of this, are you not afraid that he is lost for forever?”

“I am, but he’s Roy, he’s strong, and he’ll bounce back from this. Just keep an eye on him, and if he should need help, don’t hesitate to call out,” Raven said as she left the Amazon.

She found Tim all set up for chess. Sitting across from him she chuckled seeing the white pieces were hers’ as she made the opening move.

* * *

 

Jason’s eyes snapped open when he heard a slight shift of weight, there was a new scent in the air, something light, and feminine which had his eyes sliding over to his newest companion. He groaned seeing her, mostly because he’d been avoiding any real contact with her.

“Didn’t honestly think you could evade me for forever, did ya kid?” she asked, her voice cocky and sure.

“I thought I could try,” he muttered as he uncurled from his perch where he’d fallen asleep and stretched.

“Nice try, and move over kid,” Selina ordered.

“I don’t remember you being this bossy,” he admitted as he rubbed his eyes.

“That’s because bossing people from our part of Gotham is pointless, we do what we want when we want,” she purred.

“Damn straight. So, what’s up Selina?” he yawned, still stretching as he arched his back feeling the vertebra pop.

“I just wanted to check in on my favorite Robin,” she mused.

“Oh? And here I thought your favorite would be Dickhead or Replacement,” he replied dryly only to receive a baleful look from him which made him think of Zed and had him shriveling internally.

“As you’ve been away for a while I will let you get away with that, this once, but I’m warning you Jason, no more jokes like that.” Her tone was sharp, and it sliced through all his defenses and instinctive retorts.

“Alright,” he submitted.

“Now, how are you? I’m not asking about the missing years Jason, I don’t need to know about those unless you want to talk about them, I’m asking about how you are,” she clarified.

“I’m okay,” he admitted. “And I talk to little bird about my missing years. She doesn’t, she doesn’t sit there judging them. She listens.”

“You seem to have take a liking to Raven,” Selina observed.

He groaned. “Not like that.”

“I wasn’t saying like that. I know what it’s like Jason, to have no one, and then find someone who just accepts you, it’s special; as a friend or lover, it’s special. And Raven seems like a lovely young woman, Dick, Tim, and even Damian are all very fond of her,” Selina stated. Her face was sincere which had him relaxing a bit, letting his guards down, because for a change someone wasn’t commenting on an attraction between him and Raven or something. Just being honest about how special it was.

“I like her,” he admitted.

“That’s good,” she nodded.

“It’s nice having a friend who doesn’t judge you because of your worst actions,” he admitted tiredly.

“I understand,” Selina assured him.

“She’s a great friend, ever have that?” he asked.

“I have it, with Ivy, and Harley,” she said, leaning back to lounge.

“Really?” he asked.

“Where do you think I go when all this,” she gestured to the luxery around them. “Gets to being too much?”

“I don’t know.”

“I go to Ivy’s and Harley’s, sleep in the guest room and enjoy the small comforts,” she chuckled.

“I hid out in a safe house,” he admitted. “I had a few when I was Robin.”

“So that’s where you were going,” she teased. “I don’t think Bruce or the others know how overwhelming all this is. It’s beautiful, and wonderful, but we had nothing to begin with and fighting to keep what we have. It’s a drastic change.”

“I think you always had an eye for the nicer things,” he remarked. Remembering a few of the offhanded comments from Bruce and Selina about their childhoods.

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” she smiled slyly.

Jason looked out the window then as he breathed, his breath fogging up the window before he looked back at Selina. She was just lounging there, looking comfortable and like a queen, she was a queen though, and he had always thought it. Biting his lip he swallowed before he scrounged up the courage to ask something he’d been wondering about for a bit. Selina did run in both circles of the vigilant world, so he wondered if she knew.

“Do you know?” he whispered.

“About the deals for Robins?” she asked gently.

He nodded, unable to continue his questioning of the topic. He just wanted to know who besides Raven, and the villains he’d made the deals with, knew. Selina’s cat green eyes bore into him with a seriousness and intensity he hadn’t known her to possess.

“Yes. I know. I did not know you were the Hood, but I knew,” she promised. “And I’m not telling the others, that’s for you to tell or not tell.”

“Thank you,” he breathed softly.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of Jason, it’s rather admirable,” she touched his bent knee which had him looking back over to her gaze. “You’re a very good brother, for making those deals, but you shouldn’t have had to.”

“It wasn’t about me,” he murmured.

“I know, and that’s why it’s admirable,” she assured.

“Raven said the same thing,” he muttered.

“The bird is not a fool then.” she smiled. “So, now that that is out of the way, why don’t you tell me about the adventure with Raven and Damian, Damian has not shut up about how wonderful of a brother you were.”

“I didn’t think you’d like the demon spawn,” Jason chuckled.

“I do not like his mother, and if I ever see her I will scratch her eyes out for daring to take advantage of Bruce. And warping the kid, and for every other sin she’s ever committed against my boys. But the kid’s growing on me, he’s an angrier version of his father at that time,” Selina mused. “He’s a good kid, a really good kid Jason, and you should let him be your brother. But that’s a different matter. Now, I want to hear all about your adventures with Daian and Raven,” she smiled as she settled.

He sighed but indulged her as he explained the contract from start to finish.

She was laughing at him by the end which had his eyes narrowing on the older woman. “Oh, this is too much! You steal her mind, and she claims you as a friend. I did not see that coming!”

“Glad you can laugh, do know how annoying it is when she just threw all that perfect balance I had going to hell for kicks!?” he demanded crossly. He wasn’t really cross about Raven entering his life, or how she’d come crashing in; but it was the principle of these things.

“Admit it, you like having a friend like that, one that throws everything into chaos.”

“Fine. I do. Did you have one?”

“Actually, yeah, and he knocked me up, has a zillion kids I can’t keep track of, and dresses up as a Bat at night to kick criminals’ asses. He completely ruined my life and how I thought my life would go, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” she mused.

He softened, he had always liked Selina because she was honest about liking Bruce, and him, she didn’t hold back about that.

“You said you talk to Harley,” Jason said uncertainly.

“She left the Joker,” Selina said softly. He looked down at his hands then, he didn’t care, he didn’t care, he refused to care. He hated Harley. Suddenly there was a finger beneath his chin and he looked up at Selina.

“She Left The Joker, Jason, Because Of Your Death,” Selina said slowly. “Harley is capable of a lot of terrible things, but even she wouldn’t beat a child to death with a crowbar and blow him up. And yes, I know all about it, Harley told me. She left the Joker for good, because of what he did to you.

“She’s marrying Pamela in May, they own two cats and three small dogs, and both have almost completely retired from the life,” Selina said

“I don’t…” he started.

“Don’t lie to me, it matters to you. And if I ever cross paths with the Joker, I’m scratching his eyes out,” she promised. “Bruce might not kill, but I do. And I don’t care if that monster magically becomes a saint somehow, I will kill him for what he did to you.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I’m going to keep this one,” Selina promised. “God it’s so good seeing you here. And you grew so big! I always told you that growth spurt was coming, you just needed to be patient.”

“You can’t call me shorty now,” he mused.

“That’s Timmy, and you don’t get to tease that poor boy about his height, he’s got enough self-esteem issues without you messing with his head, and don’t deny it, Jason Peter Todd, I know you.”

“Fine, I won’t wale on the kid’s self-esteem, but everything else is fair game.”

“That’s fair,” she smiled.

“I kind of missed you Selina.”

“I missed you too, baby bird,” she smiled. He leaned into her touch when her hand touched his cheek.

* * *

 

Vicki Vale had been coming to Wayne Manor since she was fresh out of college for the annual interview with Bruce Wayne, a man so reclusive about his social life he made the Batman look like a damn socialite. However, there were only a handful of reporters who’d built a successful rapport with the elusive Bruce Wayne.

The first was Clark Kent, don’t ask how, but those two had become thick as thieves about thirteen years ago. Clark was reportedly a close family friend as well as one of the few reporters privy to Bruce’s actual private life.

The second was Lois Lane-Kent, yes, that had come as a shock, but Lois had a tenacity to break through barriers with even the stingiest of people. So it wasn’t a surprise that Bruce’s friend’s wife was also allowed access to his private life.

And the third reporter, was herself, and she’d been at this for nearly seventeen years. First they had dated a bit, she had been convinced he was the Bat. However, twenty years old, and he was a smarter, older man, the attraction had built, but fizzled out when she realized Bruce would not be taking an emotional connection. His heart was locked away and guarded with a  security not even Fort Knox could possess. But they’d remained friends; not best friends, but friends, could have off the record meetings even. And though she was his ex-lover, and a friend, she wasn’t privy to his life. And she wouldn’t be. Except, Bruce trusted her a bit more than the other reporters with his annual opening up interview, so here she was.

Standing at the massive gates of Wayne Manor.

Sighing, she was buzzed up and she drove the incredibly long driveway which was probably as old as the city itself, and parked before the massive doors of Wayne Manor. Reluctantly getting out of her car she jogged the steps up through the bitter damp cold as the sea’s wind slashed through her. Shivering a bit she rang the doorbell and waited a moment.

“Hello Miss Vale,” the butler greeted her.

“Hi Alfred,” she greeted as she hurried into the mansion where she was blasted by the warmth. Tugging off her coat Alfred took it and she turned to the butler.

“Is he in the study still?”

“Yes, but this years interview is to be conducted in the sitting room,” Alfred said.

“Alright,” she replied, uncertainty now seeping into her bones. Then there was a thundering crash.

“GET BACK HERE YOU HELLION!” a man’s voice shouted.

“Wait Up Jason!” a woman’s voice shouted.

“Where’s he going!?” another voice she recognized to be Tim’s.

“Hell if I know!” the man’s shout came, Vicki looked up just as the man appeared, snatching up the grinning black haired baby, a woman appeared a step behind the man, as she crashed into him, the man teetered.

Time slowed then as the man tossed the kid from his arm, Tim lunged forward to catch the laughing baby, the woman caught the railing but feet were tangled and Vicki watched in horror as the man and woman followed gravity then.

“Tim Catch!” the man shouted as he and the woman went toppling over the railing. Vick scrambled back so as to not be crushed.

A deafening thud resounded in the area.

“Ouch,” the man muttered, his arm secure around the woman.

“Master Jason, are you alright?” Alfred was beside the pair.

“Jason Todd!” the woman shouted as she lifted herself over the man, Vicki reeled over the name. “Are. You. Out. Of. Your. Mind!?”

“Stop yelling, my ears are ringing,” the man answer.

“Jason?” Vicki blinked. The man and the woman looked at her then. Vicki gaped at the sight of the face of a boy she’d once known. It was Jason, she’d know that face, she had studied it often enough after his death, the structure was right, his coloring was too, and those aquamarine eyes glared at her with the same ferocity as Jason’s had.

“Fuck,” the man said.

“I got the idiot, Alfred, you might want to deal with her,” the woman said as she stood, she was a tiny thing, and she helped ‘Jason’ up. The man towered over them all.

“This is going to be a cluster fuck,” she heard the man mutter as they walked away.

“I didn’t let the baby out of the nursery!” the woman stated.

“So, Alfred,” she started.

“All interview inquiries will be conducted with Master Bruce, Miss Vale,” Alfred informed her primly.

She’d have pouted, but she just had the juiciest scoop of the century and she was willing to wait.

Jason Peter Todd Dead or Alive? Imposter or Real Deal? Oh the headlines would sing for her like a canary, and she only had to wait to corner Bruce to demand the answers she wanted and needed before she ran with the article. The other questions she had were about his children; since none of them were ever in the social parts of the papers; except the business section. She also needed to ask about his relationship with Selina Kyle.

But most of her mind was now centered around the topic of Jason Peter Todd.

This could be the best interview of her life and she would not be letting it go to waste as she sat down and waited a beat. Bruce appeared, a few moments later, immaculate as always as Alfred appeared with tea and cakes of some sort.

“I apologize for the wait Miss Vale,” Bruce said sitting across from her.

“That’s alright,” she smiled turning on her recorder.

“Now, where shall we begin?” Bruce asked her, clearly relaxing as he took the offered tea before Alfred slipped out. Vicki felt a wolfish smile spread her lips as she held her tea in her hands.

“How about we start with Jason Peter Todd being alive?”


	6. Do Not Open 'Til Xmas... Whoops!

Bruce was not put off by Vicki’s question despite his annoyance at having to adjust his plans. But this could work in their advantage if all went as he was hoping it would.

The overall plan was to bring Jason back into the fold of the family. Jason should have never felt he couldn’t come home, but Bruce was beginning to see where he had made the worst mistakes with Jason to make his son feel he couldn’t come home. Vicki Vale discovering Jason being alive wasn’t that startling, he was in the Manor, but this was a bit earlier than Bruce had expected.

By the end of the interview, one which he had been recording to keep track of his words so he could create the backstory for Jason if Vicki went digging. Which Vicki would dig; she was a good reporter like that.

“And finally, Bruce, who was the woman with Jason? I’ve seen many of your sons and their significant others had have never seen her, and I assume she is the girlfriend of Jason’s with how she used his name,” Vicki said.

“Miss Roth,” Bruce said remembering Dick mentioning once that Raven’s mother’s name was Arella Roth. “Is a very dear friend to my son, not his girlfriend, and she accompanied Jason on his travels while he was missing.”

The lie was going to cost him but Bruce was certain he could creat a solid backstory for Raven, and possibly involve her mother if Vicki really went digging.

“I see, so she’s not his girlfriend?” Vicki asked skeptically.

“No.”

“I see, well, it was great seeing you again Bruce, and I say this as your friend,” she said as she stood, turning off her recorder. “Congratulations on getting Jason back, I know what he means to you.”

“Thank you, Vicki,” he nodded as he watched her smile an saunter out of the sitting room.

Once she was gone Bruce heaved a sigh.

Selina appeared then, leaning on the door frame, her lips curled slightly. “A rather elaborate back story you’ve created for Jason’s missing years.”

“But necessary,” Bruce said as he walked to her, she tilted her head back.

“I know,” she said as her fingers touched his chest. “I’m glad he’s here.”

“If only he was happy about it,” Bruce muttered. He knew this was going to take a lot of work on his part to get Jason to see he had a family still. He’d really fucked up with the Joker, and how he had handled Jason’s death. But the shear amount of pain losing Jason had inflicted on him had nearly killed him, it’d been a devastating, crippling, hellish blow to him. It was only because of his boys that he’d even survived, and he knew that. No one would have been able to help him, or save him. But Dick, and Tim had stubbornly come to his side and demanded his presence. And Selina had been there, which had been a huge help.

“He’s happy about it, he’s just too much like his father to be open about this happiness.”

* * *

 

Raven grumbled as she stalked through the snow of the Manor grounds with Jason.

“And you want to test this why!?” she demanded again as they both headed for the edge of the barrier.

“Because if Roy broke it when he came barreling through the gates we’re home free.”

“No we’re not,” she chided.

“Look, I got a wonderful safehouse in the Carribean we can hide out until the other binding breaks,” he offered.

“No.”

“Oh come on little bird! You cannot honestly tell me that you like being around here for the holidays!” he argued.

“Liking has little to do with why I’m here Jason, but now that I am here we’re staying,” she stated.

“Maybe,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. She didn’t bother to mention that while they would be able to leave the property he’d still be bound to her, and she to him, and she was staying at the Manor. Mostly because she had no other place to go, and she was not traveling on a commercial plane with Jason; it wasn’t happening. She’d kill him.

“Even if we can leave the property, we’re staying here,” Raven stated.

“Why!?”

“Because You Promised!” she snapped.

He glowered at her with obvious dislike of her statement but Raven didn’t care. Part of the reason she was his friend was to be on his side. However, she would also remind him that he had promises to keep and even if he didn’t like them, he’d be keeping them. Jason was a man of his word.

“I really hate it when you do that,” he hissed.

“I know, but you have to realize that running from them isn’t going to make your problem just magically go away!” she pointed out as she gave a startled yelp when she sunk a bit too deep into the snow. Jason grabbed her waist and hoisted her up then before setting her back into his footsteps.

“Fine! But if we can leave the property sometimes we’re going,” he warned.

“I can live with that, you can show me Gotham,” she offered.

“I’m sure Dickhead or Tim have shown you everything I could possibly show you,” he pointed out.

“Actually I’ve never been to Gotham, this is the first time,” she said sincerely. He spun on her with wide eyes.

“What?”

“Yes, I’m a New Yorker, Jason, also, in case you forgot, very few outsiders are welcomed in Gotham,” she said solemnly. She knew he got her meaning as he blinked at her statement.

“Oh little bird, there’s so much to show you, wherever shall we begin?” he smiled rather like a shark then.

“Not with Arkham,” she supplied as they continued their trek down to the barrier.

“Is this a decree from the Queen?” he asked.

“Yes, I do not want to run into anything from Arkham,” she agreed as she struggled to keep up with Jason.

“I’m okay with that, but we’ll start with Henry, I’m sure you’ll just love him,” Jason declared.

“Who’s Henry?”

“My gargoyle.”

“A gargoyle?”

“Yes, and not just any gargoyle, my gargoyle,” he said as they finally got to the drive, the gate had been fixed rather quickly. Raven tugged on her coat as she looked at the barrier. It was invisible to non-magic users, but she could see it. Even without all her powers, she could see the magic of it as she assessed it.

“Well, I guess I’ll be meeting your Henry, the barrier is broken, here, and here, but the main rune to hold me, here,” she circled the center of drive then. “It’s erased.”

“So Roy really did break the magic,” Jason mused as he crouched to her level.

“Yes, but it’s not that, it’s like the barrier was designed to be easily broken. I’m guessing Zed saw something and told Constantine it needed to broken easily,” Raven said as she stood to look out at the drive which headed for Gotham; she could see the city in the distance.

“What do you think that means?” Jason asked, his tone going for amused to serious.

“I do not know, my clairvoyant abilities are unpredictable, and I’ve never been able to harness them like Zed appears to harness hers, however, it cannot be good,” Raven answered.

“You have clairvoyant abilities?” he blinked.

“Yes, but as I said, I can’t ever get it to work when I need it to work,” she shrugged. She walked to the edge of the barrier, bit her lip as she inhaled the clean, salty scented, icy air before she released the breath. Here’s testing to see if she was actually reading the barrier’s broken points right. Straightening up she walked forward, squeezing her eyes shut as she expected pain, there was a slight burn but she cracked her eyes open to see herself on the other side of the barrier.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“And the verdict, sunshine?” Jason asked as he stood beside her then.

“That’s not a binding barrier, not completely, it burns a little, but it’s manageable, like picking up a hot pan with no mitts, or taking a too hot shower,” Raven said as she shoved her numb fingers into her pockets.

“So what else is the barrier if it isn’t a seal?” he asked her.

“I don’t know, I’ll have to look around at the other runes, but if it was a traditional seal to keep a demon in a certain spot it should have kept me here, or gravely injured me when I left the broken seal,” she said. “I’m going to guess it’s a protection barrier, not a traditional seal, I’ll need to see the other runes though.”

“Can a pentagram really seal you?”

“You mean like in Supernatural?” she asked thinking of the show.

“Yeah.”

“No, a pentagram is something I use to gain more power, I’m a demon, I draw a good portion of my strength from the dark arts, a pentagram is also something of a tool for my father when he went about introducing Satanism to the world,” Raven said.

“I thought that was Satan,” Jason said.

“No, Satan is a warden, a punisher, he’s not the devil despite the title. Also, he apparently takes great offense to people who practice Satanism in his name, he’s not evil, my father on the other hand, is,” Raven shrugged.

“You know a lot about this stuff,” Jason muttered.

“Queen of Hell, also, Constantine filled me in on the demon’s throne and why I was preferred to Lucifer,” Raven said as she walked back into the barrier. Perhaps the barrier had forgotten to account for her human heritage, for there was a bit of resistance on letting her back in. Not enough to slow her, just a slight push.

“And why is that?” Jason chuckled.

“You mean aside from Lucifer being an Angel and not a Demon?” Raven asked.

“Really?”

“Fallen Angel he may be, but he’s still an Angel, I’m a demon. Also, Lucifer apparently has taken to living in L.A. and owns a club there,” Raven filled in.

“No shit?”

“I’m serious.”

“You know, it makes perfect sense for the Devil to live in L.A., it also explains so much,” Jason chuckled. “What club?”

“Lux,” she answered.

“That’s irony.”

“Not really, he’s an angel,” Raven pointed out.

“Okay, I’m not going to argue this with you as it will give me a massive headache and I have enough troubles with the multiverse, I don’t need to get mixed up in religions, theology, and demonology,” he decided.

“And here I thought that as my advisor to Hell, you’d want to know all about that!” she mused.

“Unless it starts fucking with our lives I do not want to know, and you’ve got a handle on it so I’m going to leave it be,” he decided.

“Fair enough,” she decided.

“You know, now that you can leave the property we’re going to have to go get chilidogs, and a proper slice,” he smiled.

“So long as we come back to the Manor at the end of the day we will go do whatever you want,” she offered.

“You might regret that offer, little bird,” he smiled.

“I doubt it. I’ve never seen Gotham so I will take this opportunity to learn about it, and try to see the appeal of it,” she decided.

“So you’re going to join us hardy Gothamites in ranks?” he asked.

“ ** _Hell NO_** , I’m a New Yorker Jason, and I even root for the Mets,” she stated solemnly.

“If you were a Yankee’s fan this friendship would be over,” he stated solemnly.

“Fuck no! The Yankee’s suck!” she declared.

“Good to know you got common sense, now, football teams?”

“The Patriots, they’re Victor’s team and since I know nothing about football I’ll follow his team.”

“Victor would be a good teacher,” he chuckled. She gasped when she sunk a bit deeper again. Jason caught her waist before she face-planted.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Dick was laying in bed, his arms secure around his warm lover as the flames in her hair settled and they caught their breaths.

“Are you truly please?” Kori shifted in the bed, and he blinked before it registered that she was talking about the pregnancy.

“Yeah,” he smiled then. “Really happy about this Kori.”

“I am as well, but I am nervous,” she said sitting up and he rubbed his eyes before swinging off the bed and pulling on sweats. She bit her lip.

“Why?” he asked sincerely. He did love Kori, he loved her deeply, and he knew she was going to be a wonderful mother.

“A hybrid pregnancy, Dick, I do not know what this will do to my physiology, and I do not know how this will affect the child or how long my pregnancy will even be,” she whispered. “Also, I must now inform Tamaran I am formally renouncing any and all claims to the throne without alerting them to my child or I will be summoned back and my child named the heir.”

“And that’s bad?” Dick surmised as he sat with her.

“No, it’s just worrisome,” she muttered. “I know that this will sway the people for my brother’s favor, which will infuriate Kom, but, I cannot rule Tamaran. I know I have supporters there hoping I will return, but…”

“But?”

“My father sold my sister and I for the peace of our planet, we were imprisoned, tortured, and experimented on,” she whispered. “I could… Tamaran is where I am from, but it has not been home in many years.”

“Kori, everything is going to work out, you got us, and the Titans, and the League, everything will work out,” Dick promised as he brushed her hair out of her eyes. She looked up then, her bright eyes were fiery and he loved them. “We’ll make this work. Starting with you informing me how long a Tamaranian pregnancy usually is in earth terms.”

“Three months,” she answered.

Dick fell off the bed then in shock.

“Dick?”

“Three months!?” he sputtered as he clawed back onto the bed to stare at his lover. He was used to thinking he’d have months. Now he had three!?

“I suspect that this pregnancy will be longer, the child seemed to have favored some human developing processes, within me. The child is growing slow for a Tamaranian but I have seen that it is developing quickly for a human, so perhaps six months.”

“Oh thank God,” he muttered as he muttered relief in Romani. “I’m not upset Kori,” he quickly assured her. “It’s just a shock. Normally guys have nine months of prep.”

She chuckled.

“Tamaranian males are never involved with the rearing of the children,” she said. “We are raised by eunuchs, and our parents are not involved, at all.”

“Galfore’s an eunuch?” he blinked.

“Yes, but you’ll be a wonderful father,” Kori praised, and he smiled at her confidence. He hoped he’d be good at being a dad, he was still mastering being a big brother/parent for Jason, Cass, Tim and Damian; now Terry and Helena too.

His phone buzzed; Wally would be here tomorrow.

* * *

 

Roy groaned as he woke, his head was killing him, and the shakes were brutal. He frowned as his eyes, his chest hurt, it felt like there was a weight sitting on his chest, and he felt like he was covered in sweat. Turning his head he saw her sitting there, looking at him with bright brown eyes, her black hair cascading around her, and her face almost set with a regal look which made him think of an Amazon.

“You’re awake,” she observed, standing as she walked over to him.

“Who are you?” he rasped as he felt something make his heart race, and his body tremble.

“I am Donna of Troy, Princess of Themyscira, and I am not here to hurt you,” she said. He nodded as squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip, everything hurt so fucking bad! And his mind was reeling, racing with a thousand bad thoughts.

“Are you alright, do you require some assistance?” she asked.

“No,” he harshly shook his head regretting the action. his head felt like there was a knife being jammed mercilessly into his temple and twisted painfully. Gently hands were on him as he was helped to sit up. He shut his eyes when the world spun then. Fucking withdrawals sucked.

“Here,” the woman’s voice was gentled as she pulled his hand up and he felt a paper cup placed in it. He shakily brought it to his lips as he sipped the water and tried to breath as he took small sips of the water.

“Lian?” he asked tiredly finally. He felt lucide, he kind of remembered Raven being here but that didn’t make sense. Then again, an Amazon being here didn’t make sense.

“Your child is in good care,” the woman said as she sat on the edge of the bed with him.

“Good,” he nodded as he almost dropped the cup, Donna caught it and put it on the nightstand.

“May I ask who Thea is?” she asked. “You cry out for her in your sleep, perhaps I can call her so she could help you.”

“Thea’s dead,” he said softly as he looked down at his trembling hands. His chest tightened and his heart stuttered at this statement and he felt the tears. The memory of her death came crashing down on him then as he gasped, the tears fell.

“I am sorry, I did not know,” Donna said suddenly.

“No… No, it’s my fault,” he gasped. “She wouldn’t be dead if she hadn’t come to save me,” he admitted. “Oliver’s going to hate me.”

“No one hates you,” a hard monotone had him looking over at Dick who stood there with his arms folded.

“You don’t understand,” he muttered.

“Explain it then.”

“Dick, I think I betrayed the Titans.”

* * *

 

Jason was in the cave, he was desperately working on ignoring the memorial case. His deal with Raven stood, and he knew she’d be helping him dispose of it. But until then, Jason resisted the savage impulse to smash it into a zillion pieces and blow it all up until there was nothing left of it.

However, that wasn’t his focus as he sat there looking through Bruce’s files for the information he needed. It wasn’t easy, but Jason was a bit unsurprised that Dick’s user name and password hadn’t changed in six, nearly seven, years. Looking over the information he needed he pulled out a pen and paper and jotted things down in his short hand.

Raven was dragged off with Kori, Cassie, Donna, and Diana, so he knew he didn’t have to worry about her prying into what he was doing. Dick was busy, Tim was with Dick, and Damian had trotted after Raven, Stephanie was out, Selina was with Helena and Bruce, who had Terry as well, and Alfred was running errands. Jason was guaranteed to have the whole cave to himself. Leaning back in the seat he frowned at some of the information he was reading, but he still jotted it all down.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up then, and he spun around onto his feet with a gun in hand at the thing irking him.

“Fuck,” he muttered seeing who it was.

She tilted her head at him and smiled a bit as he put the gun on the side table.

“Hey Cass,” he greeted. “I thought you were with Stephanie.”

“Mom day,” Cass answered with a shake of her head as she sat beside him. “What is little brother doing?”

“First, I’m not a brother, and second, none of your business,” he said as he closed out the files. He had almost all the information he needed to keep building his plans, and to prepare his strikes. Jason was going to have fun with it, but first he had to survive the holidays with his family.

“Secretive,” Cass accused.

“Absolutely,” he grinned as he shut the notebook; knowing that no one would ever decipher it. His short hand was not only in an unbreakable, dead, language, but it was all jumbled up too. He wasn’t a fool, he’d learned during his time with the Assassins and the All Caste how to have an unbreakable code. Also, he had learned the short hand from the SEALs, Deltas and a few SAS guys he’d met. Jason saw the value of an unbreakable shorthand.

“I will find out,” Cass declared as she smiled at a challenge. Jason just rolled his eyes.

“What’s up?”

She held up her book, he took it from her as he looked at the title. _King Lear_.

“Interesting pick,” he said.

“It’s difficult,” she said.

“I bet, Shakespearian English is not easy, English is hard enough, but that is different,” he shrugged as he picked up his notes and started walking out of the cave.

“Help,” she said hopefully.

“Uh…”

“Clayface helps,” she said suddenly.

“Really?”

“Yes, he was most eager to help, every Thursday night, practice,” she said.

“Cool, he was a great actor before that thing happened to him, so you couldn’t get a better teacher. And Shakespeare is a classic, and good to know,” Jason said as he handed the book back to her. She took it and kept up with him then.

“You like Shakespeare?” she asked.

“Yeah, he was my kind of guy, had no mercy, picked at everyone, and took no prisoners in his writing,” Jason shrugged.

Cass smiled then.

“I can’t help you with the Shakespeare thing, Cass,” he said.

“Please,” she said softly.

“No,” he said. Cass gave him a pleading look.

“Little brother,” she started.

“Oh fuck! If I say sure you have to knock it off with the little brother shit. I’m not your brother!” he stated this firmly.

She smiled and nodded. Though he suspected that she would be like Dickhead and persist on calling him little brother, he didn’t need this hassle right now. He didn’t need to worry about whatever was the Bats family issues. He wasn’t their family. He would not be sucked into this again. It was not happening.

Besides he had his own issues he had to handle, starting with one Black Mask. But again, he would keep that to himself as he didn’t want to be in Gotham at all.

“You’re good,” Cass said suddenly.

“Not really, okay, so where are we starting?” he asked as they made it to the room he’d commandeered as his own for the duration of his stay. It was right across the hall from Raven’s room.

Cass hopped onto the bed beside him and flipped through the book to her page before she started reading, Jason figured out how she did this as they started alternating pages between them. This continued through the Scenes, until the end of Act three when Cass shut the book and fell back against the bed acting as if this were the biggest torture she’d endured.

Jason pulled a cigarette then.

She plucked it from his lips then.

“Hey!”

“Bad for you,” she solemnly informed him.

“Not too worried about it, the Pit kind of repairs the damage,” he shrugged. She narrowed her eyes on him.

“Fine, I promise no smoking in the Manor,” he sighed.

“No smoking,” she countered.

“I’m not qitting the one vice I got to appease you, or anyone else!” he retorted.

“It bad,” she snapped.

“It’s, and it’s not that bad.” He didn’t think that it was that bad on the list of vices others had. It was just smoking, and he wasn’t even that big of a smoker. He just smoked when he was stressed; which meant he smoked a lot when he was around the Bats. But when it was just him, he didn’t touch a single cigarette. Raven knew this; she’d been to most his safe houses after all.

“It’s bad,” Cass stubbornly said, taking his correction then.

“I only stress smoke, you can check the date on the pack, it’s old,” he said in exasperation.

“No smoking!” she stated as she climbed on him and started going through his pockets.

“Hey! Whoa! No! No! No! Boundaries Cass!” he shouted as he scrambled away from the woman. But she wasn’t deterred as she leapt on him, he stumbled a bit at the impact of her hitting him, but he right himself.

Fuck it was difficult to deter her when he only had only one arm to fend against a determined Cass. She was furiously working on getting through his pockets when he countered and dropped his weight back on the bed. Cass shrieked but escaped which had them both spinning around to face one another. She smiled with challenge, and Jason’s eyes narrowed.

“No Goddamn It! They’re my fucking cigarettes!” he snapped.

“It’s bad!” she countered, she launched at him, he caught her and she snatched them from his pocket before tearing out of the room, he tore after her.

“Cass Get Back Here!” he shouted as he leapt over a banister, wincing at the impact when it jarred his hip as he continued running after her. Rounding a corner Jason had a moment to see startled dark eyes widening before he slammed into Raven as they went sprawling on the hall floor.

“Shit fuck! Are you okay?” he demanded as he quickly rolled off his smooshed empath friend.

“Ow!” Raven muttered.

“I’m sorry Rae,” he said and he started checking her over for injuries.

“I’m fine, just had the wind knocked out of me,” Raven rasped after a few moments of her focusing on breathing. “What the fuck are you Bats made of? Steel?”

“Not a bat,” he reminded her.

“Bullshit,” she groaned as she rolled onto her side and slowly sat up. “I feel like I got hit by a freight train.”

“Sorry! Cass stole my cigarettes!” he said as he hoisted Raven to her feet.

“You shouldn’t be smoking!” Raven countered.

“I stress smoke!” he defended again. The empath merely rubbed her brow with a sigh.

“I know, we’ll get you new ones tomorrow,” Raven said with a complete defeat.

“Doesn’t help me out right now,” he grumbled as he walked with Raven, discarding his chase of Cass. “Where are you heading?”

“To Roy’s room, Dick texted me that he needed me to come, Donna and Kori are there already,” Raven shrugged.

“I thought Donna was with you, Kori, and Cassie,” Jason said.

“No, I was training with Cassie and Diana, yes, but Kori was with Dick, and Donna’s been watching over Roy,” Raven said.

“Oh,” he nodded. “Why are you training with Amazons?”

“Cassie’s got some armor from Trigon, I’ve been helping her with it,” Raven shrugged.

“Cool,” Jason shrugged as they walked into Roy’s room.

* * *

 

He knew he was hurting her, he knew that it was hurtful, and slightly cruel to shout at her when they’d been on Tamaran, but Goddamn it! Tara pushed every single one of his buttons.

But she’d gone too far!

She had to know that, she had to know there were limits, even for him.

Sitting on his porch he dragged his hands through his hair as he shut his eyes. When had they gotten here, what had driven them to this moment in time? They’d never been this bad, ever, no fight between them had been so horrible, but, fuck, this one was bad!

It had started with a simple statement, from Tara about Raven and Trigon.

‘ _Don’t you worry that Raven will betray us? I mean, Miss Perfect can’t be that perfect if she’s got dear ol’ daddy stuck in her head whispering to destroy us all_ ,’ Tara had said it so casually, and innocently.

Gar had snapped. Tara had never liked Raven but that had been over the line. Especially since Raven worked so hard to keep control of her inner demon.

Also, Raven was his best friend, she was the only one who understood everything that had happened to him through puberty. She had helped him keep control of him inner beast, his darker instincts, and his more dangerous impulses. She’d been there with an understanding that no one else could possibly have. Not even Tara.  

Raven was not kind, she was compassionate. But Tara while kind was not compassionate.

And now he was in a war with his girlfriend.

Which brought to light a different set of issues for him he hadn’t noticed.

Gar didn’t trust Tara. Horrible as that was, he didn’t trust her, at all. He just, fuck, he didn’t know when he had stopped trusting her.

And worse, the worst thing of this thing between him and Tara, was aside from heated fucking; because that’s all that it was at this point, there was nothing there. He honestly didn’t know when that had happened, but it had, and that scared him. That terrified him. He felt nothing for a woman he slept with. And Tara being so damn childish about his friendship with Raven.

Honestly, Garfield didn’t think he could even have a shot at Raven anymore. He had broken it too much when they were younger and dumber.

And Garfield wasn’t going to ask out Raven anyway. Dating Raven when they’d been young and stupid had been a nightmare, not to mention the few times they had tried to have sex her empathy would freak him out. Garfield could only imagine that a woman like Raven, who’d been difficult as a fifteen year old, would be a hell of a woman now. She’d need someone to match her wits and stubbornness, and Gar knew that wasn’t him.

So why Tara thought that he had a thing for Raven was beyond him.

Groaning he gripped his hair and wondered just what the hell he was supposed to do about his relationship now.

It had started out so good!


	7. Ghosts of Christmas Past

There was one thing Roy knew from his meetings and the program, and that was:

All It Took Was One Drink.

Four years of sobriety had gone down the fucking tubes because of his cockiness, and his belief that maybe four years ago, while he had definitely had a drug problem, he might not have been an alcoholic. Twenty-five, he hadn’t had a sip of alcohol since he’d gotten clean, and damnit! He didn’t think it was just one drink.

He was wrong.

Roy would admit to that as he sat there feeling like he’d been ran over by a freight train.

Thankfully the drugs had been a later aspect of his relapse, otherwise he was pretty sure he’d be dead right now. Not that he didn’t feel dead now that he was awake and alert. There was an I.V. in, no doubt administering something to him like Methadone to take the edge (he’d gone cold turkey last time and that had nearly fucking killed him). Still, he felt like fucking shit now that he was fully awake and aware of his situation.

The wisdom of coming to the Bats for his detox was not lost on him now that the first haze of detox was over. For one, with all the shit that went down in Gotham and all the shit they did for Gotham, they were equipped to handle a full-on detox, from anything. For another thing, it meant he was safe, no triggers here, like Ollie, but shit this sucked. Closing his eyes, he took a pained, steadying breath, his mind’s eye replayed Thea falling, and he gasped as he bolted out of that moment to see Raven, and Jason (so that hadn’t been a hallucination?) walking in.

“What is it Dick?” Raven’s monotone was level, even, it was soothing, refreshing, and very comforting to him as he looked at the empath demon who stood there with her appearance of apathy. That’s what he had liked about Raven the first time he’d been getting sober. She didn’t judge. Jason’s glare on the other hand, Roy knew he’d done something or said something of great offense to the young man. What he didn’t know.

“Wally is coming so lets wait a few,” Dick said and Roy winced. Now he’d also have to face Wally? This wasn’t fair.

Then again, he looked at the I.V. with trepidation, he’d fucked up. He’d fucked up big time.

“Should he be here? He is not a Titan and glaring at Roy,” the Amazon spoke, and Roy looked over at Jason tiredly, the younger man had perched himself near the door, and on a chair turned backwards, Roy noticed that he also had a line of sight of everything in the room and the fastest exit. But more than that there was a glare in those eyes, bright green glare, it wasn’t natural, and Roy couldn’t find it in him to care about it.

“I’m with Raven so if she says go I’ll leave,” Jason spat out.

“Control yourself, and you can stay,” Raven’s monotone sliced through them all. “And that includes you, Donna, you have not agreed to be a Titan just yet either, so do not think you are entitled to stay.”

“Let’s everyone calm down,” Kori said cutting through the arguments. Roy was kind of glad then that his friend were here, even if he didn’t want them to see him like this; again.

“I can control myself,” Jason muttered.

“Stay,” he slurred tiredly. It’d be best if they all just stayed. It would make it easier. Afterwards he’d ask Dick and Wally a few things, but not much, he was tired, and his head was killing him. Raven walked over to him, her indifference revealing nothing.

“Do you need anything while we wait for Wally?” she asked.

“No,” he muttered. “I fucked up, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” she answered sitting with him. He saw Jason’s eyes narrow from the corner of his eye, and the way the Amazon tensed, Dick joined them then.

“We’re going to take care of you, Roy, you and Lian, there’s nothing to worry about,” Dick said reassuringly.

“No mother hen,” he muttered lightly trying to push Dick away, but his friend grinned.

“Sorry I’m late, I got caught of in traffic,” Wally said walking in.

“Hey Wally,” Roy tiredly greeted the speedster.

“Damn Roy, when you fall off the wagon, you fall off the wagon,” Wally unhelpfully commented.

“Be kind, Wally,” Kori chided.

Roy reached out and caught Raven’s hand; he’d been trying to grab Dick for attention but he had the empath. She turned her dark gaze on him as she waited a moment. He knew she was patiently waiting for him to gather his thoughts, his strength as his headache bloomed harder and with more ferocity.

“What is it Roy?” Raven prompted when the talking finally ceased. Roy blinked see Jason a shadow behind Raven

“I think I betrayed the Titans,” he said again.

There was noise.

“Shut The Fuck Up!” Jason roared, Roy winced as it felt like Jason’s voice was a knife stabbing him in the center of his brow then.

“Start at the beginning,” Dick prompted. Roy licked his lips feeling like they were dry, as he closed his eyes on the too bright light now.

“Last year, the CIA approached me to go undercover into a super villains assassins group. They knew about Jade and I’s history and wanted to use it,” Roy said softly.

“Dude I told you not to do that!” Wally snapped at him.

“Shut up or I’ll pitch your ass out in the snow,” Jason snapped.

“How about you save the pissing competition and grudge match for later or I’ll knock both your heads together!” Raven snapped turning her attention onto Jason. Roy had never heard Raven threaten anyone with bodily harm before, it was startling.

“Continue Roy,” Dick encouraged.

“I did it, I went undercover, I just… Dick I got in over my head,” he whispered.

* * *

 

“You gotta hear this,” her annoying would-be-suitor called from his set up. She rolled her eye as she stood from where she was looking over the latest information she had collected to go speak with the annoyance. She frowned with distaste at his work area.

“What?” she barked.

The man turned those warm brown eyes of his on her then. “Well, I’ve found a transmission, I think you’re going to want to hear it,” he offered her the headset.

With some reluctance she took it from him as she put it to her ear.

“ _My informant in the Titans will find the information we need._ ” She recognized that voice as she felt the family fire of fury and hatred fill her.

“ _He must be found_ ,” an unknown male voice said.

“ _He will be_ ,” a woman spoke.

“ _He only escaped because you have grown soft on him_ ,” the unknown male accused.

“ _I had him under control!_ ”

“ _There might be another way_ ,” her father spoke.

“ _And what’s your solution? You have a mole in the Titans._ ” The woman spat.

“ _I have a way to dispose of the problem without it tying to us_ ,” her father said evenly. Her eye widened at this, for her father was not one to like having no ties.

“ _And your solution?_ ”

“ _I need to call in a favor. I’ll be in Gotham._ ”

She pulled the headset away.

“When was this?” she asked.

“Last night, but it might not be anything,” the hacker started.

“Move,” she shoved his rolling chair away from the consoles as she rapidly typed in a program to find what she needed. She found it and she was up and moving as she grabbed her coa.

“Where are you going?” her companion called out frantically.

“To meet someone,” she answered pulling her silver hair free of her coat as she looked at him. “You have plenty of supplies, I will return soon. Stay. Put.”

“Wait!” he shouted.

“You’re safe, my father does not know you are here, and all the traps are set, stay inside,” she said as she walked out before he could continue his protests. Locking the door she engaged all her traps as she walked out and arranged for transportation to Gotham. It was time to see an old frienemy/fuck buddy. Who knew, perhaps when all this was over she’d finally beat him and get a good fucking in the process. Pulling a cigarette she lit it and continued walking through the damp cold that was Dublin.

She was going to stop her father and whatever the hell it was he was doing, one way or another. That was her mission.

Stopping at another safehouse she looked around and chuckled seeing something she had snatched from the last time they’d encountered. Perhaps he’d want this back; after she kicked his ass.

Picking up the black leather jacket she tossed it in her duffle as she went about collecting the supplies that she needed. Once she was set and had transportation arranged she strolled out of the discarded safehouse then.

* * *

 

Jason folded his arms as he leaned against the massive bed post, Raven’s threat was not to be taken lightly if she was in a threatening mood. So he would settle for glaring at Wally and Roy; two people who had made their hatred of him known the first time around with Dick, and they’d made his life miserable. However, he was here because Raven was his friend, and honestly he wanted to find reasons not to act on his impulse of punching Roy in the face.

Thus far he wasn’t finding any, and add in the speedster, Jason really wanted to tear something apart.

“The mission was to get close to Jade, she’s working with Deathstroke and a guy called Prometheus, I don’t think anyone knows his real name. He’s like the anti-Batman though,” Roy said softly.

Mentally Jason started sifting through all his known associates for Deathstroke. As far as he knew there wasn’t one which was the antichrist for Bats.

“His name is Prometheus, that’s the only name I got from him, and he’s the most dangerous one, Dick,” Roy whispered that part.

Jason scowled. After years of dealing with Deathstroke and the League of Assassins he had a fairly good list of both their allies and their enemies. Then again, there’d been that year with Ducra, which he needed to take into consideration because that was the year he’d been cut off from the world with only Talia giving him information on the outside world. Information he trusted about as far as he could throw Talia. Still, that year was an information blank as he’d been training and plotting at the time.

“I met him four months ago, I wasn’t on heroine then,” he said.

“Just drunk,” Jason deduced.

“Lay off man!” Wally snapped at him.

“No, he’s right, I was drunk,” Roy said tiredly. “I was stupid, I was arrogant, and I took the first drink and it fell from there. Prometheus had the drugs, I resisted for as long as I could. But it was always there, and I just wanted to make it all stop! Make everything stop! I wanted to go home, call it quits on the mission. But they were talking of nukes.”

“Nukes?” Kori spoke up then.

“Weapons of mass destruction,” Jason filled in for her. “They’re as powerful as you on a berserk rage Princess,” he finished when she didn’t seem to understand. The understanding dawned on her face at the analogy.

It wasn’t surprising to him that the Titans would be unaware of Nukes and shit, it was doubtful the Justice League even paid them any attention. Both of their organizations had been formed for battling monsters and evils that normal folks could not handle. Like the Darksied invasion (he wasn’t an idiot, he had google). Some things the Almighty UN were just not prepared for. And that’s where the Titans and Justice League stepped in. That, and they were good faces for diplomatic purposes. Glancing at Raven, Jason snorted at the mere thought of the demoness being a diplomat. She wasn’t the type.

“And how does this mean you betrayed the Titans?” Raven asked.

“I think they’ve got all your files,” he whispered. “I remember the first time, I didn’t shoot up myself, I just… He was there, and I remember a needle, I remember him asking about the Titans, and what was needed to beat them. And I just… I don’t remember, I think I talked. Deathstroke knew all about Raven, and you, Dick, but he spoke of a possible mole in the Titans. I can’t remember though.”

“That’s alright,” Raven and Dick assured their friend simultaneously.

Jason frowned at this. It wasn’t alright, in fact it was far from all right. He had a hunch that if Deathstroke had a mole in the Titans then he knew more than the Bats. But him knowing about Raven, that had Jason lifting a brow at Raven when she glanced over at him.

She shook her head so he suspected he’d be filled in on that little tidbit of information later.

“Who was the mole?” Jason demanded when nobody seemed willing to address the issue of the mole.

“For all we know you could be the mole,” Wally spat out.

“Wally!” Kori and Dick snapped at the speedster.

“Enough!” Raven snapped furiously.

“No, no names, he called the mole his informant.” Roy shook his head.

Jason nodded as he stood up straight to leave, it appeared that once again his project would be on the back burner, he didn’t need that, but he didn’t want to deal with one of the idiot Bats getting hurt because of Deathstroke. And clearly Deathstroke wasn’t abiding to their deal. Jason would say he was surprised, but honestly, he wasn’t, especially knowing just how ideal a Bat was to the right mercenary. If brainwashed (he could attest that it was possible because everyone broke eventually) the Bats would be no exception. And once properly broken there would be highly trained, highly focused, extremely motivated Bats on the loose against the world. Something he knew from his own experience to be very dangerous.

“Where are you going?” Wally demanded.

“Does it matter? You have a mole issue, I’m not a Titan,” Jason shrugged walking out of room.

He made it to Raven’s room and fell on the bed as he savored the peace.

Moles were a problem, it was part of why he stuck to being alone. However, he was aware of the last time the Titans had a mole in their ranks and the fallout from that (it was shortly after his dip in the Lazarus Pit). No, he didn’t know the whole story about it, but he knew enough. That enough was what had him stealing Dickhead’s suit in the first place. That and Deathstroke’s stalker tendencies. Jason didn’t like it when people fucked with his family, even if they weren’t his family anymore.

He sat up when Raven walked in; he guessed he’d taken a power nap because his eyes felt thick as he rubbed them over.

“Roy?” he asked.

“He’s going to be fine, Dick’s arranging a bed for him up at a treatment facility in upstate New York,” she said as she sat on the bed then.

“Good, the mole?” he started.

“About six years, or five, Tara came to us, she didn’t want us to know that she didn’t have control of her powers when joining. Dick accidentally called her on that, by offering to help train her; we did not know what the problem was, but she hurt and ran off. In the time she had run off Slade had gotten a hold of her, and then molded her to be his mole. She died trying to kill him,” Raven answered monotonously.

“You mean the rock flinging bitchy chick?”

“Yes.”

“She was dead?”

“As a rock,” Raven said solemnly.

“So how’s that bitch alive?”

“I worked on reversing her state of stone, she had died because she had encased herself in stone when she summoned the power to break the cave. It took a lot of work, but my empathy detected her life force, and I worked from there,” Raven said levelly.

“This is the crazy blonde back at the Tower who tried to smash you with a rock, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why the fuck would you bring that back!?” he sputtered.

“Because she made a friend of mine happy, and she was young, she did not deserve to die for being manipulated and hurt by an older man who wanted her only for her power. She did not deserve that. Also, she was happy to be back,” Raven said softly.

Jason blinked at this and he thought back to when they were younger and dumber, before Raven had come crashing into his life. There’d been rumors in the Super’s World that Raven was dating Beast Boy, who was currently dating the blonde psycho.

“You brought her back for him, you loved him?” Jason deduced rapidly as he looked at his friend.

“At one point, I did, now he’s an obnoxious little brother,” Raven shrugged. Jason didn’t pry, he didn’t want to pry that can of worms with Raven open. Somethings were better left untouched.

“So who do you think is the mole?”

“I don’t know, and frankly I’m too tired to hunt down a mole,” Raven sighed.

“And you’re powerless.”

“That too,” she nodded. “Also, I’m not really the best one to find the mole. I don’t trust easily so if I know someone is going to betray me and my friends I will hunt them down, and I will hurt them in some of the most painful ways I know.”

Jason nodded then. “Fair enough.”

She looked every bit the demon she was then. The ferocity in her gaze, she was a demon then, a possessive demon too. He had never known her to be more dangerous than what she’d do to defend her friends and family.

* * *

 

“Hey wanna go grab that slice?” Jason spoke after a while of companionable silence.

“You should go with Dick or Tim,” she said.

“No, I’m asking you, and you owe me a slice.”

“I do?”

“And a real talk about those papers,” he said quietly.

“Fine, but we’re taking a car,” she groaned.

“Spoil sport,” he muttered.

“You do know you’re going to have to actually spend time with your family, right?” Raven said as she picked up one of Jason’s discarded hoodies and tugged it on. Seriously, why did guys get all the good clothes? It was so warm, and comfy!

“Not right now, Rae,” he muttered.

“Are you seriously that focused on the papers?” Raven asked tiredly as she braided her hair loosely. It was getting long now, she was wondering if she should cut it or not. A problem for later, once she had her boots tugged on she was up and ready to go with Jason.

“And it’s not just the papers,” he muttered as he got the door.

“What else is there?” she asked.

“We haven’t talked lately, and I kind of miss it,” he said.

“We talk all the time.”

“Just you and I, sunshine,” he clarified. She blinked at this and then it dawned on her that in about three weeks it hadn’t been just her and Jason. Normally they just met up and hung out, went to the park, went to a café, watched Deadpool or something, but they hadn’t had a chance to do that lately. First there’d been everything with Waller (who Raven needed to retrieve from Hell once her powers were back), and then they’d been stuck with his family. Now Roy and Wally were here, and Raven could see that it was greatly agitating Jason, all the people here must have been pushing his stress and his limits after being alone. Sometimes she forgot this as she had grown so used to his company and she was more than used to all his brothers being around her all the time.

“It has been sometime,” she said nonchalantly.

“That is has, and the seal’s broke so we’re going to go get a beer and a slice,” he decided.

“I won’t be drinking, but you can have the beer if I get to drive us back.”

“You do know I can’t get drunk, or buzzed, right?”

“Then why do you drink?”

“It’s the principle of these things, that and it tastes good,” he said as he helped her with her coat.

She just rolled her eyes at his as she stuffed her hands in her pockets. “I do not see the appeal.”

“Have you never been drinking, little bird?” he snickered.

“Infinate Cosmic Power, itty bitty freedom!” she mimicked the Genie then.

“We’ll resolve this, later though, no public drinking for you,” he decided.

Raven mocked outrage then as they walked into the garage. “Don’t think I can hold my liquor?”

“No, but I don’t think I should get you drunk where you could be vulnerable,” he said smartly.

“You really think you can get me drunk?”

“Absolutely, you have no powers, so there’s no reason not to try it out once!” he declared.

Raven mulled this over in her mind. She had never had the chance to do normal teenage things, getting drunk, being wild, having sex, or just being free. She’d never had that.  True, she had tried to have sex a few times, wondering what that would feel like; if it’d be like what the books and her friends described or not. But it just didn’t appear to be in her cards as her empathy freaked guys out. And the few times she and Garfield had tried to have sex, he’d always been freaked out by her empathy so she didn’t think those few making out sessions, and his hand under her blouse counted as anything but awkward pawing.

Jason got the car door for her then and Raven slipped in quietly.

“So, what do you say, cut back and live a little for the two resurrected people?” he grinned deviously.

“No sex, no drugs, I will try drinking, and I will join you in safe antics, nothing that’s going to get me shot, or my neck broken, and you spend time with your brothers in exchange,” she offered.

“You drive a hard bargain.”

“Just say yes, Jason, you want your brothers, and I’m willing to join you in being a wild youth while my powers are out and I can’t destroy cosmos,” she said sincerely.

“I’ve been wondering about that, could you really do that? Destroy cosmos, I mean,” he clarified as they drove down the drive then.

“I’ve never tested the full extent of my powers. I don’t want to,” she said sharply when he looked curious about that. “I know though, that if I were to want to alter reality, warp time, and bend the cosmos, I could, I can… feel?... it. I don’t know, it’s just, it’s like I can feel the whole energy, the worlds’ lives, it’s a force, it pulses around me, into my blood. I can feel the push and the pulls of the different magics, and the multiverse, I sense time differently. It’s just a lot of different senses. It’s like having ten senses rather than just taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell, it’s a whole other list of senses I feel.

“Azar taught me to center myself, so I didn’t lose myself to the cosmos I could feel, to anchor and ground my soul. I still feel it all, but I’m able to block it out, like it’s white noise.

“And I’m not going to test my powers, fully, ever, Jason. I sired from a powerful demon, and a woman who had magic in her blood. What I can do, fully, is an unknown, but I’m not sure I want to find out. I have my immediate powers, and my magic, and I prefer those to the others I might have. I do not want to be a monster, I don’t want to be my father’s daughter. I want to be my mother’s daughter.

“My mother believed in love, and will, she believed in life, and I want to be like her. I do not want to be Trigon’s pet, his door, or his tool. So whatever else I might be able to do, or not do, I do not wish to know because I don’t want to destroy everything.” She spoke softly and she didn’t look at her friend as she stared at the passing road. She didn’t want to be a monster. She didn’t want to be Trigon’s daughter.

“Well then, I think you’re off to a good start,” Jason’s voice cut through her thoughts. Turning in her seat a bit she looked at him carefully. “You’re not a monster Rae, farthest thing from it, and trust me I know some real monsters. So, I think you’re doing fine.”

“You’re not a monster either,” she assured him firmly.

“Then we’re good, time for a slice and I’ll drive you around Gotham for a bit,” he smiled at her.

“Sounds like a plan, and tonight we can kick everyone out and watch something, like Deadpool, or that American Assassin movie. I just finished the book, I must admit I liked the way Rapp thought things out,” Raven pondered as she remembered the Vince Flynn book he’d shoved at her and demanded her to read.

“I liked that, a lot actually,” he admitted. “It’s relatable for me,” he defended swiftly.

“Going to pick apart why it’s not like the book?” Raven chuckled.

“They did modernize it,” he admitted.

“Oh Azar forbid,” she chuckled.

“Do not mock me! This is why I don’t do movies!” he defended.

“One Word: Deadpool.”

“It’s the exception.”

“Have you started that book, the Martian?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s interesting, I’m not sure that’s how we’d get to Mars, but so far, it’s well thought out and well written,” he shrugged.

“We do planet hops all the time.”

“Yeah, with alien tech, and that’s not shared. Not really. Humans are still working on it,” he pointed out.

“True,” she agreed.

“And this is sci-fantasy as he did not count the fact Mars is full of White Martians.”

“True. I wonder if Edgar Rice Burroughs would like knowing his world was the closest to what Mars is really like,” she wondered.

“That’s a good curiosity,” he agreed.

“I wonder what it was like back then,” she mused thoughtfully.

“Different,” he answered. She chuckled at that statement as she looked at the city. They pulled up to the curb and Jason was out of the car getting her door.

“Why thank you,” she mused as she took his offered arm.

“You’re welcome, my Queen,” he grabbed the other door for her. she shook her head in exasperation at the nickname again.

* * *

 

Her hand trembled as she stared at the headlines, and she felt her eyes widen.

It wasn’t possible! It wasn’t!

And yet, she stared at the article and felt her heart stutter as she bit her lip. He was alive! He was Alive!

She didn’t know if she wanted to scream for joy or rush to him to make amends.

Nearly seven years ago, Batman had pulled her from the rubble, Jason’s body had shielded her from a brunt of the explosion. But Jason was most certainly dead. He hadn’t survived. She had barely survived herself, if Batman hadn’t given her immediate, emergency care she’d have perished out in Ethiopia. Even then though, she had suffered.

She had known she would suffer physically, the rehab, the burns to heal, the pain. But she hadn’t expected the guilt.

God she had felt terrible about it all!

The boy had trusted her, had looked at her with understanding, and love, and compassion and she’d betrayed him. She had betrayed him because when she looked at him she could see Willis, she could see the man who had ruined her life!

Oh, she knew that wasn’t true, if she looked closely she could see a lot of herself in the teenager. He’d had her father’s eyes, her curls, he had her grandfather’s mouth, and her mother’s dimples. He just had a lot of Willis in him too. The teen had been an odd mix of features. He hadn’t looked the traditional handsome at all, in face she’d have said he wasn’t handsome at all. But there was something about him, that had held promise.

And she’d destroyed that!

Now, now she could try to right this wrong. To rid herself of the guilt. She’d never expected that drowning guilt which would weigh her down so much that some days she couldn’t move.

She’d sold her son to the Joker. He’d been brutally beaten and she hadn’t lifted a finger to save him.

And yet, even at the end of the assault he had tried to save her.

Sheila dropped what she was doing at her clinic as she walked out of the tent to make arrangements to head to Gotham.

Just to see if it was him, and if it was…

God she wanted to fix her relationship with him. To try to right her wrong to him, she just… she wanted to try. She needed to try. She had to hope that she could apologize to him.

Then she paused, she had remembered the look on his father’s face when she had tried to apologize. Biting her lip she closed her eyes.

She would have to break her word to his father, she’d need to, if she wanted Jason back, she’d have to brave Gotham. And Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Looking back on it now she supposed Jason had been more like Bruce than he’d been like Willis. She’d just been so hurt, scared, and furious that she hadn’t seen that then and she’d wanted to hurt Willis for ruining her life.

In the process, she had thought she had killed her only child.

She needed to fix this.


	8. Silver Bells

She landed in Gotham less than twenty-four hours after leaving Dublin, and she was assaulted by an image of his ugly mug and a petite woman walking with him.

 _Prodigal Son’s Lover!_ -by Vicki Vale.

She snorted at the thought as she rolled her eye. Jason wasn’t the sort of guy to have lovers, especially after everything. She knew, she was just like him. Putting the paper down she walked out and called a cab before heading to her stop for her drop. Once there she did a double back, walked the block before walking up to her safe house’s entrance. She slipped in the tunnel, discarded her black wig, letting her silver hair fall she took the wall route to her penthouse. Slipping in through the fake panel she stepped into her Gotham penthouse. Her senses on alert, but there was no one here, she could see that as she put the panel up and dropped her bag before keying in her codes.

She fell onto her bed and sighed as she remembered the last time she’d been here.

Fuck, that’d been a few years back, he’d been here, injured, and she’d patched him up before he had bolted. Unsurprisingly. She usually was the one to bolt, but she knew that time he was running. Sitting up she walked to her system as she turned it on.

There was a booming voice then.

“YOU LEFT ME! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU FUCKING LEFT ME! AND YOUR FATHER IS AFTER MY FUCKING HEAD!”

“Shut the fuck up Hosun! And he’s not looking for you, his attention is diverted for now, and I’ll be back before anything happens,” she cut off.

“You’re sure?” he demanded.

“Positive, now quit your whining, asshole. I need you to use your skills,” she snapped as she pulled the cigarette then.

“I’m at your service, what do you need?”

“I need you to track down a fucker named Jason Todd, he shouldn’t be that hard to find,” she said as she let out a puff of smoke then.

“Yeah, I’ll have him,” Hosun muttered.

“Good,” she hung up then and rolled her eye at her would-be-suitor’s behavior. Hosun was a complicated companion, he wasn’t bad company, just a pain in the ass most the time. walking to her fridge she pursed her lips seeing the whiskey there as she pulled it and popped the top before taking a swig from the bottle. Letting the burn sooth her she let the bottle dangle from her finger tips as she looked out over the city.

Her reflection had half her face covered by her mass of silver hair; the bad half she mused. Bringing the bottle to her lips she took another swig before setting it aside and gathering up her gear. Two knives on her back, another eight scattered over her person. She’d have taken the guns, and a sword, but that was overkill right now.

The phone buzzed and she looked at it.

- _Wayne Manor_

~~~*~*~*~~~

Raven wondered how it was that she continuously got sucked into Jason’s schemes as she trudged through the cold and snow with him. The Manor was warm. The Manor was safe. But were they in the Manor? No! All because Jason wanted to see if they could break into the Batcave. She’d have left him to his folly alone if Cassie and Diana hadn’t gotten into a major row about the armor, and Raven didn’t want to hear about how it was her fault or how she didn’t get what it was like having Trigon influencing her.  If there was anyone in this plane of existence who understood what Cassie was going through it was she, and she did not like being dismissed off hand because she was Trigon’s daughter.

“And we’re doing this, why again?” Raven asked when they paused in the outer gardens, Jason was checking for traps and stuff before they got to the cliffs. He had just been cleared to not wear the sling anymore, and the cast would be off soon too.

“Well, when we go to blow up my suit, we need a way in,” Jason pointed out.

“You do realize when we get to that point I’ll have my powers back and we will not be stealth ninjas breaking into a cave you have access to,” Raven dryly countered.

“Ok, how about we’re doing this just to piss of B, will that satisfy you?” he asked her blandly.

Raven returned his dead stare for a long moment.

“Fine! I just want to see if I still have access codes! Happy!?” he spat out finally.

“I didn’t make you tell me the truth Jason, it’s just preferred!” she snapped back as she folded her arms against the cold. The problem with having a naturally lower body temp; she got cold easily.

“I hate it when you do that! And you don’t even have the fucking empathy right now,” he muttered more to himself. Raven just rolled her eyes, it really wasn’t like she had demanded him to tell her the truth. She just preferred it when he did. It made her life easier.

“Why do you want to see the codes? You have access from the Manor,” she pointed out.

“That’s because B knows I’m going to use that entrance, but the other entrances require access codes and biometrics, I just want to… I want to see if I still have those,” he said. She sighed, again with his quest for validation. Fine, she marched past him then and looked over the edge of the cliff then.

“You sure you want to do this? That’s a big fall if we mess up?” she asked.

“Yup, I got rope,” he was grinning like a loon.

“Fine but if we die doing this I will kick your ass all the way to Hell,” she warned him as he scampered off to do whatever it was he was going to do.

Raven looked back over the side of the cliff and groaned, this was a bad fucking idea. A really bad fucking idea.

“Rae, what are you doing?” a voice asked and she turned around to see Dick walking towards her, Jason had disappeared, probably looking for an anchor point for his rope.

“Jason wants to go rock climbing down the face of this cliff in a quest for validation,” she muttered to herself. “Jason wants to go rock climbing,” she called out.

“What?” Dick shouted. She sighed and motioned for him to come to her.

Once he was there she sighed. “You can’t seriously be following us around just to see what we’re doing Dick, so what do you want?” she asked softly.

“I was actually thinking of asking Jaybird to join us for a movie, Damian's never seen Christmas Vacation and it’s kind of a family tradition to watch it,” Dick nervously stated. Raven saw the way he was shifting and how uncertain he was about this.

“You do know, despite his bitching, and whining he wants to be here, he just doesn’t know how to be here,” Raven pointed out gently.

“How can you be sure about that? Has he ever said something specific to you about it?” Dick demanded.

“No,” she replied. “But I’ve spent the last six months of knowing him dealing with how he loves you and hates himself for it. Besides, a movie is in the nice warm home theatre and we aren’t traipsing around out here, so ask him. Before I get shoved off a cliff,” she ordered.

“You were never this bossy before,” Dick chuckled.

“That’s because I never had to deal with your family problems,” she countered.

Dick blinked then. “Really?”

“Yup, I am your friend, always, but I was never a close enough friend to get dragged into the family drama, ever, I only had to keep Damian and Tim from killing one another. That was my job before I was promoted to a glorified babysitter,” Raven shrugged. “I wasn’t ever a friend who was involved with your family.”

“You know, that’s bullshit, I just didn’t think about it, I think outside of my immediate family, you’re one of our most trusted people Raven,” Dick said as he placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

“Really?”

“Yeah, since the moment I let you into my head,” he smiled.

“Why does it take me getting into your heads to gain your trust?” she asked in bafflement. She’d been in Timothy’s head once, and she’d been in Damian's head, and Dick’s, and Jason’s, but she wondered what it was about her empathy and being in their heads which had them trusting her. Personally, she wouldn’t trust someone who entered her head with the ease Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian did.

“Because you didn’t go about blabbing our secrets, also, you were the first on our team to know me, the real me, and you didn’t tell a soul,” Dick smiled confidently.

“Who’d have believed me?” she asked blandly.

“Remember when we were making fun of Gar’s name?” he asked.

“Oh right,” she smiled then. Those had been good times! And then the Titans had found out Dick’s name and that had shut up the teasing they had unleashed on Gar.

* * *

 

Jason saw Dick go down, Raven looked startled, then there was a blur of red knocking his demon friend off her feet, she disappeared over the cliff and Jason was running then. The red clad blur turned on him, he saw a blue eye and silver hair.

She had a knife on him then, he was fast though as he blocked, twisted away from the cliff, grabbing her coat as he threw her. She flew, catching a tree limb. He was a step behind though as he leapt up and slashed out a kick of his own. Twisting in the air he pulled one of his knives as he landed before spinning up.

Her slight frame was up already and armed with a knife as well as she eyed him up. He twisted the knife in his hand as she came at him then, Jason blocked her attack as she came at him in a flurry of silver and red. Oh, she was fast, and there was power in her lithe form, there was no denying that.

He blocked one of her attacks with his elbow as he knocked her knee out from her. She stabbed his lower side then. Hissing he spun from her as he lashed out a kick with his good side. She was out of the path though as she rolled up to her feet. Another two knives in hand. He threw his with full force at her. The girl narrowly evaded it as she charged him. Jason held his ground as a she launched her attack. He was on defense then as he blocked her. Catching one of her wrists he twisted it behind her back as he knocked the blade from her hand. She tried to stab him with her other hand. He threw her again as he took the other knife. He was fast as he kicked her center chest.

Her legs knocked his knees out from under him, he slammed into the snow. She was over him with a blade to his throat. Jason slammed his knee into her back as he took the knife, knocking her off him. He was up with her knife just as she slammed her hundred something pounds of force into him pushing him off center. Hitting the snow, he heard the click of a safety being pulled off.

“You learn,” he observed dryly, keeping her knife in his hand.

“I came fully prepared,” she agreed.

“No, you didn’t,” he smiled coldly before he used his spare hand to drag her down to him. It was her tactic as he kissed her hard. He heard her gasp of shock, then her yelp of pain as he stabbed her hard in her lower soft tissue area before snatching the gun she had at his head off her. She groaned as she rolled off him.

“Fuck!” she gasped. He was up, and started disassembling the weapon with absent ease as he looked down at his adversary.

“I hope that hurts!” he snapped as he glared at her.

“More than I thought,” she admitted.

“What do you want Rose?” he asked. He noticed then that Rose and he had gathered a crowd, Damian was standing there bristling, Tim looked confused, Cass looked indifferent, Selina and Bruce both looked shocked, Dick looked baffled, Kori also looked bewildered, Wally looked terrified, and the Amazons looked ready for a fight. Jason looked for Raven, not seeing her as he limped for the cliff, she was pressed tightly against the wall on a ledge, clearly hanging on for dear life.

“Hang on little bird, I’ll get you up,” he shouted.

“Take your time, I’m just hanging out,” she called back, obviously scared.

“You know this harlot, Jason!?” Damian sputtered.

“Yeah, and since you pushed her off the cliff Rose, you’re helping me get her,” he growled as he hoisted the smaller woman up to her feet.

“Oi! Careful! I’m bleeding here!” she snapped.

“Only time I worry about you and bleeding is on your fucking period, get the fucking rope Rose,” he shoved her off for the rope. The silver haired vixen rolled her eye.

“Fuck you,” she shouted.

“You have, several times bitch!” he shouted after her.

Rose held up the bird as she walked off for the rope. He looked down at where she’d stabbed him, no vitals, or arteries. He was guessing a social call was in order as he gritted his teeth.

“Don’t!” Bruce started, Jason yanked the knife out fast as he pressed snow on it. “Pull it out.”

“Fuck off Bruce, fucking bitch, That’s The Same Damn Spot Rose!” he roared after her.

“I Fucking Know! I stitched it up last time,” Rose appeared, clearly pissed, bleeding, bruised and annoyed.

“I hate your fucking guts right now,” he warned her as he got back to his feet and took the rope.

“Want a drink and chat about it?” she asked as he tied a secure anchor to go get Raven.

“Do I look like I want a drink?” he demanded.

“Depends entirely on the company,” she stated.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he demanded. “No, don’t answer that, I don’t want to fucking know, hold this,” he shoved the rope at her.

“I’d be a better person, I’m lighter,” she pointed out.

“As you shoved her off the fucking cliff, no, I don’t think so. Hang in there, sunshine, I’ll be right down,” he shouted once he was sure about his knots.

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” Rose asked him.

“For once, shut your fucking pie hold and just do as you’re told, and if you drop us I’ll come back from Hell and drag you back with me, flower,” he warned her.

“Yeah, yeah, get to work fucker,” she spat.

He shook his head as he tossed the rope and slowly went over the edge of the cliff. It took a few careful minutes to get to Raven, but when he did, the sight that greeted him was a shock. His small friend had a white knuckle grip on the rocks; her grip so tight she was bleeding, and her eyes were wide, staring down the cliff. Jason carefully called her name a few times before she seemed to snap out of her stupor. Raven’s eyes flicked to him now.

“Hey little bird,” he said as he carefully came over to her.

“Hello,” she answered tightly.

“Scared of heights?”

“Yup, can I go now?” she asked.

“Yeah, I got you,” he said as he carefully took her by her waist. Raven’s slight form wrapped around him tightly with a death grip he didn’t know she had as she shook.

“Oi! Pull us up!” he shouted. Slowly they started going back up, Jason kept an arm secured around Raven who was hiding against his shoulder. He kept a secure hand on the line when a strong hand grabbed his arm and hoisted him up. He found himself looking at Bruce then.

“Kay, we’re up sunshine,” he informed her. He didn’t force Raven’s spider monkey clinging off him as he turned to glare at Rose. “Alright flower, now we can talk.”

He grabbed Rose’s ear as he dragged her after him.

“Ow! Let the fuck go you, asshole!”

“Shut the fuck up!” he snapped. Raven was still secured on him.

“You’re bleeding again,” Raven muttered.

“That happens when this viper visits, every fucking time,” he warned Raven. Once he had both girls in the kitchen he put Raven on the counter and tossed Rose in a chair.

“Jesus Fucking Christ! I’m bleeding here!” Rose hissed.

“Master Jason, what is the meaning of this?” Alfred appeared.

“Ask her, she started it!” he pointed an accusing finger at Rose as he turned his attention on Raven looking the demon over carefully because she didn’t have powers right now to heal herself. He pulled her hands up, the cuts were deep, and he had no doubts she had a lot of bruises, there was a nasty one blooming on her brow right now.

“This is going to hurt Raven,” he warned her.

“I’m fine, I’ll take care of myself,” she decided.

“Oh no you fucking don’t, so shut up and put up,” he snapped.

“Sorry about pushing your girl off a cliff. And tasering your brother.”

“I’m not his girl!” “She’s not my girl!” Jason and Raven both shouted as he turned on Rose who Alfred was cleaning up.

“Right,” Rose rolled her eye.

“Seriously flower, what are you doing here?” he asked as he pulled the alcohol and started cleaning Raven’s hands.

“Wait, how do you know her?” Tim asked, and Jason noticed then that the family had piled into the house again.

“Jay and I go way, way, way back, and yeah, I know all about you Bats,” Rose purred.

“She’s Slade’s daughter,” Jason announced to them. Raven winced as he found some of Alfred’s bandages and he touched her hands.

“Slade? Slade Wilson!?” Dick sputtered.

“The one and only,” Rose cackled. “Now do you wanna hear what I got or not?”

“Wait, Slade has a daughter?” Tim repeated.

“Yeah, and a son, you know him too,” Jason said as he left Raven alone then and turned on Rose. She had a cigarette in her lips and he plucked it from her as he slipped it between his own lips. Pulling a lighter he lit it. She had another in hand then and he tossed the lighter to her. “You patch me up, again and then we’ll talk.”

“I don’t see you patching me up!” she defended.

“Same Fucking Spot Rose!” he spat out. And it had just healed right too! His last run in with Rose had been back in August when she’d come barreling after him because they were on the same network. That had been a hell of a get together. Thinking of that, he remembered he had her bra, he should return that and maybe she could tell him what the fuck had happened to his jacket!

“I was aiming for it!” she spat out.

“How often do you two do this?” Raven asked him.

“It’s complicated,” they both answered as they glared at one another. Meetings with Rose ended in two ways, in the hospital, or in a bed after they fucked each other’s brains out. This was a first, as they were still clothed, and had witnesses.

“And fine, I’ll patch you up, but you owe me a fucking drink. I fucking hate Gotham,” she stated.

“No smoking!” Cass hissed as she snatched his cigarette from him.

“Oh come on Cass, she just stabbed me! I think I have the right to a smoke!” he snapped.

“No!” Cass snapped. “And stop helping him!” Cass pointed at Raven.

“Don’t drag me into this!” Raven snapped.

“You are perfectly fine, Miss Wilson,” Alfred announced.

“I know, if the fucker really wanted to hurt me he’d have hit harder,” Rose growled. Jason’s eyes narrowed dangerously on the silver vixen before him. Tiny Rose may be, but she was a very powerful force.

“You started it! You could do what normal people do and say hello instead of shoving the Queen here off a cliff, and electrocuting dickhead, even if he deserves it!” he snapped.

“Oh like you’ve never do that!”

“Last time doesn’t count and you fucking know it! And if I hadn’t stepped in you’d be dead, so a thank you is appreciated.”

“I hate your fucking guts right now,” she hissed.

“The feeling is mutual,” he growled. For a long moment, they glared at one another. There were many things Jason did not like, Rose getting the drop on him was of those things. There was also the matter of how every fight with the woman ended.

Usually with them naked, bloody, and sweaty, or in the fucking hospital.

* * *

 

Tim was thoroughly confused as he looked between his elder brother and silver haired woman. There were so many confusing signals coming off these two! A familiarity, a bond, but a clear dislike of one another, it was so confusing. Which had Tim looking over at the ‘Rose’ woman.

She was rather beautiful, she had a blue eye showing, she was wearing an eye patch over the other eye, her hair was silver, and thick. Her face had high cheekbones, a squared jaw with a set of full lips. Honestly, she looked like she could be one of those models or something. But she had the same hard look around her eye that Jason had most the time.

She was obviously skilled, and dangerous.

“I’m confused, are you enemies or friends with benefits thing, or what?” Kori finally broke the tension. Both Jason and Rose snorted.

“Try adversarial fuck buddies,” they both said in unison.

“That’s confusing,” Tim muttered. Damian was bristling up a lot then. Tim kind of expected the youngest member here to turn into a rabid animal now.

“It’s a pleasure to meet one of Jason’s friends,” Donna said appearing then.

“We’re not friends!” Jason and Rose shouted.

“I have more friendship with a fucking dildo than this asshole.”

“Seeing as how a dildo doesn’t talk I’m not surprised,” Jason spat out.

“You’re still in contact with Mr. Lefty, right?” Rose purred.

“Enough!” Bruce stepped in then.

“No need to be vulgar, Master Jason,” Alfred chided. Jason and Rose were still glaring daggers at one another.

“Oh trust me, you haven’t heard anything,” Jason growled.

“ENOUGH!” Raven roared when Rose and everyone opened their mouths to blast Jason for his language. Tim blinked; he had never heard Raven yell aside from when she wasn’t heard in the field, she was quiet.

“You start talking, and you will shut up and put up!” Raven shoved Jason’s shoulder.

“You’re a pain in the ass, little bird.”

“Shut it or I’ll blast you!” Raven warned.

“You don’t have powers.”

“Do you want to test me Jason Peter Todd?”

“What’s a dildo?” Damian piped up then, Tim spun on the little troglodyte looking very perplex.

“Uh…” Tim took five steps away from Damian.

“We’ll tell you in fifty years,” Bruce said as he glared at Jason.

“Everyone out of the kitchen, except Bruce, Jason and Dick! Rose, stay put,” Raven ordered. Tim was quick to get out of there, he felt like that was a keg of TNT and Jason and Rose were the matches to ignite it.

“I don’t like her,” Damian growled.

“I don’t either,” Tim blurted out to his mortification. Damian looked at him with interest then and Tim internally cringed, he never liked it when Damian looked at him like that. It never ended well, and he liked his blood inside of himself, thank you very much!

“Do you want Jason here as well?” Damian asked.

* * *

 

Damian wanted to tear that silver woman apart from the moment Jason had kissed her. She had the audacity to kiss back! Damian hated her! Then there was the entire talk between Jason and this Rose woman, and they made it sound like they were lovers and enemies all at once. Damian didn’t like it, he did not like it at all. This Rose woman would have to go. But it was doubtful he would get any allies in his quest to get Jason to open his eyes. Jon blatantly laughed at him.

However, looking at Drake right now Damian could see a potential alley. He did not particularly like Drake, however, he would admit that Drake had skills. Skills which could exceed his own in some ways; especially involving people.

“Uh… yeah,” Drake answered.

“Yes!” a quiet voice spoke behind him and he turned to see Cain there.

“Then we must dispose of this Rose woman,” he declared.

“WHAT!?” Drake shouted.

“It is obvious that Jason’s attraction to her will have him continuing to follow her, we must eliminate her,” Damian deduced. If raven would not get through to Jason, then they would make Jason see that Raven was obviously the better match for him.

“We are not eliminating anyone! And you’re on your own if you try it!” Drake declared.

“I do not see the problem with eliminating an ill-suited match for Jason. This Rose woman is not a good match for him, and will take him away,” Damian defended.

“Match? Oh,” Tim blinked and Damian rolled his eyes. Honestly it was amazing to him that people thought Drake was so smart but he had these moments of complete stupidity. “You’re going to try to play match maker for Jason?”

“Obviously, as he and Raven cannot be trusted to notice the obvious,” he stated.

“Okay, slow down with these plans because for one we don’t even know if he’s attracted to her,” Drake said. Damian and Drake looked to Cain who just blinked.

“I will find out,” she decided as she walked off.

Well, at least he had one ally in this mission. No matter, either way, this Rose woman had to go. She could not take his brother away! Not when Jason was finally here, and Damian liked having Jason here. He was the best brother he had.

“Okay, so what exactly are you planning here, because I’m not disposing of that Rose woman’s body.” Drake said.

“Mistletoe,” Damian answered.

“I’m going to regret this, I know I am,” Drake muttered. “Anything besides the mistletoe?”

“Will that alone not work?” Damian asked. He still didn’t get these relationship things, he just knew that Jason and Raven were idiots.

“Oh boy, we’re going to need Dick’s help,” Drake decided.

“Will he help?” Damian asked cocking his head to the side in uncertainty.

“Damian, setting people up will either end in horrible disaster, or work out, and if we don’t want this to fail, we’re going to need help.”

* * *

 

Bruce quietly assessed the young woman, she looked to be about Dick or Jason’s age, so early twenties. She had silver hair, that eye patch, and a blue eye showing; she was obviously dangerous, and she was very familiar with Jason with how she addressed Jason. Jason had also said she was Slade Wilson’s daughter.

“What are you here for?” Selina asked. Jason stood between Rose and Raven slightly and Selina walked forward.

“Well, I have information for this asshat,” Rose jabbed a finger at Jason.

“Language!” Alfred said sternly.

“I said hat!” Rose snapped, but she withered when Alfred looked on her and Bruce moved to stand by his sons then.

“What information?” he growled.

The woman huffed out a puff of smoke, blowing her hair out of her eye before she sighed. “My dad’s going to call on you for that favor, Jay.”

“For what!?” Jason sputtered.

“Well obviously not the Bats, he’s got the rules figured out there, but he’s coming to Gotham. You’re the only reason he’d come to Gotham,” Rose snapped.

“What rules?” Bruce and Dick demanded looking over at Jason.

Jason just scowled. “If you must know, I owe Deathstroke a fucking favor as the cost for keeping him away from Dickhead, Replacement, and the demon spawn. This is just fucking great, anything else, viper?”

This was news to Bruce as he stared at Jason, who wasn’t looking at them now. He wanted to reach out and touch Jason, hold him and assure him it was alright, the shame of this was radiating from Jason in waves that even Bruce noticed. However, Jason glared at them when they moved and he kept his attention on Rose.

“Yeah, he’s got a mole on the Titans, and knowing my dad it’ll be someone he can manipulate,” Rose shrugged.

“We already know about the mole, and we’re working on it,” Dick said.

“Good,” Rose huffed out more smoke. Bruce scowled.

He did not see what his son saw in this woman, what would compel Jason to form a relationship with this woman? She was vulgar, and crass, she was… oh God, she was a female version of Jason. Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose then.

“Anything else Rose?” Jason asked her tiredly.

“Yeah, he’s working with a man, and a woman, and they were chatting about how someone escaped,” Rose shrugged.

Now Bruce felt an interest in what the young woman was saying. Roy had said something about escaping, but as the young man was still going through detox Bruce didn’t trust everything he said.

“What do you want for this?” Jason asked.

“A shot and dear ol’ dad,” Rose purred with a sadistic, cold smile on her lips. Bruce frowned at her and was about to tell her to get the hell out of his house and stay away from his son.

“You and your fucking daddy issues,” Jason groaned. “Fuck, fine! Fine! I don’t fucking care.”

“Thanks.”

“Rules are still in place Rose,” Jason growled.

“Fine.”

“And Rose, you touch the little bird again, I’ll skin you alive,” Jason warned and Raven balked. Bruce saw a look pass between Rose and Jason as an understanding passed between them.

“I won’t touch your new play thing, promise,” she said as she stood. “I’ll patch you up, and you know where I’m staying.”

“Same key still?” Jason asked.

“Yeah.”

Bruce just felt his frustration and ire grow at this exchange as he looked between his son and the silver young woman. Neither seemed to care about everyone else in the room as they glared daggers at one another.

What the hell was this!?


	9. Sleeping With the Enemy

Rose’s eye settled on the petite woman on the counter beside Jason, the one Jason was obviously attached too and she assessed her with interest. She was an interesting creature, odd features, not really beautiful or pretty, but still strikingly attractive. Her slight build was obviously a turn about, the woman held herself with a regal air, and cold indifference. Long, straight black hair, dark eyes, willows peek, and elegantly arched brows, Jason’s woman was interesting, Rose conceded.

The woman, Raven, was sitting there perfectly indifferent. However, Rose knew Jason well enough to know that this particular person was very important to him. Rose remembered the last woman who’d been important to Jason too, and she looked up to see his hard glare on her; the warning.

“So, you want the intel or not?” she huffed indignantly, ignoring the throbbing she had coming from the beating from Jason. She had known she hadn’t stood a chance against him, she usually lost, this time was no different. Other than they were clothed still and hadn’t broken her bed or something. Also, she wasn’t tied down.

“Fine, I’ll be there in an hour,” Jason sighed.

“Fine by me,” she shrugged. Getting up she refused to let him see that he had successfully hurt her with a few of his hits. In all her years of knowing him, he was the only one who had ever really been able to hurt her.

“See you in an hour,” Jason snarled.

“Sounds fun!” she spat out venomously as she stalked out. Alright, so that went better than she was expecting, now she just needed to get him to agree to help her out and betray her father. Slade needed to die, and if Rose couldn’t kill him herself, she wanted to get Jason’s help.

She had once heard her father admit to admiring Jason’s skill and abilities more than Dick Grayson’s. Jason scared her father, he scared her father a lot, mostly because Slade could never figure out how to reign him in. Jason was a storm, someone no one could control now, he was a force, he was hell, and Rose admired and hated that about him.

Ever since the first time he had beaten her at her own game she wanted to beat him. But Jason had proven to match her blow for blow, punch for punch, bullet for bullet, and fucking for fucking. He beat her, continuously, and it infuriated her to watch him leave with a win. However, she could admit an admiration for him, even when she wanted to beat him.

And now she was hoping that maybe she could use him against her father. Jason scared Slade, she could use that against Slade. But only if she could get Jason on her side, and that was going to take her being a bit more persuasive than normal. Rose didn’t have a clue how to persuade him though, short of her stripping down and seducing him; but Jason didn’t think with his glorious cock usually. Sex with him was one thing, but seducing him was another.

Jason was strong willed and did not bow to anyone’s whims, something she admired and hated again.

“This is going to suck,” she muttered to herself as she found her stashed bike.

* * *

 

Jason didn’t look at Bruce or Dick as he turned back to Raven and inspected the bruise darkening her brow. Raven pulled away when he touched a scrape with the alcohol rag.

“I don’t think this is a concussion,” he admitted to her. “Just a bump on the head.”

“Ow, stop touching it,” she swatted at him and he relaxed a bit.

“So Jason,” Dick started and Jason groaned as he dropped his head to Raven’s shoulder as he swore about this. Sleeping with Rose was… well, it was hormones. He and Rose had met when he shot her to kill an asshole terrorist she was hired to protect and he’d been hired to kill. He shot her to kill that fucker, and he didn’t regret it for a second. Rose however had come after him a few months later and somehow between her stabbing him, and him shooting her they had landed in her bed.

Yes he had tied her up to escape her, diving out the seventh story hotel window when she’d woken up and shot at him.

Not his finest moment when he let his hormones do the thinking. The worst part was, it wasn’t a one time thing. Over the years him and Rose had somehow developed a twisted thing which landed them in one another’s pants, and bleeding, or shooting at one another. The last time he’d seen her was in August when she’d jumped in an alley outside a pub, and he had had sex with her against a wall, and somehow, they ended up in his safehouse. Yeah, not his finest decision in life. But hey, it could be worse he figured. He didn’t know how, but he knew it could be.

At least with Rose he knew it wasn’t real, but it was just enough fun to keep at it. Rose was an aggressive bedmate, and nothing but a fuck buddy because the moment they were done was the moment they were trying to escape the other with their lives.

And no, he did not want to even begin to try to explain this to Dick and or Bruce.

“How’d you meet Rose?” Dick asked.

“I shot her, now can we not focus on Rose?” he demanded as he looked up then to glare at Dick and Bruce. The mere topic of Rose was making him uncomfortable.

“This deal with Slade Wilson?” Bruce asked cutting off Dick, and Jason’s eyes slid over to his mentor, then to Selina. Selina walked forward then.

“There is a known deal amongst some of the more lethal villains of this world, that the Batkids are off limits, if you tangle with them, then the Hood will take you out,” Selina answered.

“What?” Bruce blinked.

“It’s not common knowledge Bruce, and it’s only known to villains on level with Deathstroke, we’re talking the really dangerous bastards here. Jason’s been trading himself for your sons for almost seven years, and if I had known he was Red X or Red Hood I’d have told you myself about these deals Jason was making.” Selina was bristling then and Jason kind of wanted to hug her right then. Bruce looked appalled, but with Selina between him and Bruce, Jason felt safer. If he needed to bolt he could hoist Raven up and go.

“Why would…?” Bruce trailed off and stared at him.

“Really Jay?” Dick asked. His tone serious.

“You didn’t really think his obsession just shifted to little bird, did you?” Jason sighed. Yeah, Slade’s obsession with Raven hadn’t mattered to him at the time, and Jason was well aware of it, but Raven wasn’t his concern when he was sixteen. Dick and Tim were. Raven wasn’t even someone he gave two shits about, she was a Titan, and able to take care of herself.

“Um…” Dick started.

“Not important, let me patch myself up and we’ll go to the flower’s place,” he sighed.

“Master Jason, sit, I will inspect that,” Alfred said firmly, and Jason found himself shoved into a seat as Alfred moved his jacket and shirt aside. Jason winced at the alcohol used to clean it, but he didn’t even flinch as Alfred stitched it up. He knew his family was seeing the scars that were visible on his minimal visible skin. Scars were what he was riddled with, the Pit might have healed all the ones he’d gotten before death, but the ones he’d gotten after the Pit; well, scars were normal. Once Alfred was placing the gauze on his wound he stood and left in silence. He didn’t want to deal with them right now, he noted that Raven was already gone, not surprising. Making his way to his room he pulled off his jacket as he tugged off his shirt.

“You cannot go to that harlot’s house alone!” Damian shouted as his door was thrown open and bounced, Jason twisted a bit to look at the littlest bat stalking in.

“It’s proper to knock before entering, and I thought you and I already talked about your language when addressing women,” he snapped as he tossed his bloodied shirt into a hamper and looked through his duffle for a shirt. His casted arm was itchy as fuck! But he ignored this because he didn’t want a chopstick or a pencil jabbing him until Thompkins cleared him to get it off; that’d be far more annoying than the initial itch.

“Why would you ever engage in relations with that **_woman!?_** ” Damian spat ‘woman’ like it was poison in his mouth.

“Well, for one thing, she hot,” he answered as he found a shirt and pulled it over his head. “For another, I’ve got hormones. And finally, it’s not really any of your fucking business who I sleep with and when I sleep with them, or where, or how.”

“But why would you ever!?” Damian stopped.

“Look shorty, if you’re about to ask about emotions and shit I’m going to stop you right now,” Jason warned Damian. Damian shut his mouth then. “I don’t love Rose if that’s what you’re worried about, though why the fuck that’d be your business I don’t know. She’s just a fuck, a good one.”

“I thought you…” Damian started.

“Demon brat, you know how sex works, you even tried to walk me through the mechanics of it, so use that brilliant head of yours to know having sex does not equal emotions or a relationship, now I gotta go,” Jason said as he pulled on his jacket again and left Damian behind.

Raven was in her bathroom when he walked in, and inspecting the bruise on her brow.

“Hey love, whatcha looking at?” he asked.

“I don’t bruise,” she muttered.

“Sure you do,” he shrugged.

“Fine, I heal too quickly to deal with bruises. I Hate Being Human!” she growled.

“You’re fine, you alright though after being pitched off the cliff, you looked a little shaken,” he said.

“I have a minor fear of falling,” Raven said as she walked with him to the room.

“Minor?”

“I feel off a cliff when I was a child, and during my human period for my first growth spurt, I’ve never gotten over it,” Raven admitted. There was a distant look in her eye which had him thinking there was more to that story, but one he’d dig at a later date in time. Now was not the time to dig at Raven’s childhood if Slade was coming for him.

“Okay, I’ll keep you from falling off cliffs and shit until you can fly again, little bird,” he smirked.

“That’s very gallant of you,” she mocked. He laughed as he slung an arm around her shoulders as they walked through the hall again.

“I thought so,” he assured her.

“So Rose?” Raven asked.

“A really long fucking story, and I’d have to be drunk to tell it. And didn’t you see it when you were in my head?” he asked.

“Your mind was a complicated.” Raven said that cryptically which had him quirking a brow at her to continue. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Some things were remarkably clear, probably because I was looking for them, others were vague, and others were… jumbled.”

“Jumbled?” he repeated.

“Yes, after the Pit a lot of your memories were sharp, clear, and while they were vague because they weren’t all I was looking for they were clear too. But before the Pit, yes, the emotions before the Pit were clear, but the memories were garbled, jumbled, so your remembered emotions; while very clear, held no context because the memory wasn’t there, or was jumbled.”

“Huh, that explains a lot,” Jason muttered.

“I’m not saying you don’t have clear pre-Pit memories, but when I was in there, some of just had no context,” Raven shrugged.

“Interesting, perhaps a different time I’ll let you back into my head so you could straighten it out a bit,” he muttered sarcastically.

“It doesn’t work that way Jason,” Raven said evenly.

“I figured,” he sighed.

“Wait!” a voice had him turning again, his side screamed in protest then as he saw Tim leaping after them. “I’m going with you!”

“You are?” Jason asked.

“You’re getting intel, I’m the best one to figure if it’s real or fake,” Tim pointed out. Jason looked at Raven who nodded in agreement and he groaned as his head fell back.

“FINE! Fine! Whatever! Fucking Fine! Come on!” Jason exclaimed as he surrendered to the wills of Raven and Tiny Tim. Walking to the garage he picked the cheapest car Bruce had, mostly because Rose’s safe house was two blocks from Jason’s old safe house in Crime Alley. Raven was shotgun, Tim clambered into the passenger’s seat as Jason started the engine and they pulled out to leave.

“So, you and Rose,” Tim drawled out.

“I am so not having this conversation, again,” Jason growled lowly.

“I was just going to ask if you trust her,” Tim countered.

“Why the fuck does that matter?” Jason snapped.

“Because you two seemed very familiar with one another and she is offering you intel, which you seem to be eager to get,” Tim explained.

“I trust Rose where her father’s concerned,” Jason answered carefully. Honestly, he didn’t trust Rose; not really, they were fuck buddies, but not confidants. They didn’t work together, they worked against one another usually, and every meeting they ever had ended up with them bleeding. Honestly, it was times when Rose wasn’t trying to fuck him or kill him that he was concerned, because then she wanted something. And that something usually involved her father, not a man Jason actually wanted to run into. Mostly because he didn’t want to give Deathstroke that favor. But, when her father was involved, then she was honest. Then her motives were clear.

Rose wanted to kill her father.

And she was willing to use whatever tools were at her disposal to do so. And it was when she was focused on Slade that he trusted her, because then he knew where he stood with her. He was a tool she wanted to use, a weapon against her father.

Not that it was ever going to happen. But at least where Slade was concerned, she was honest.

“Really?” Tim blinked.

“I don’t trust Rose, I trust her wanting her father dead though,” Jason answered as he pulled onto the highway. Raven seemed intrigued by that statement, and Tim looked confused. But Jason didn’t need them to understand, just know he didn’t trust Rose. And since Rose had pitched Raven off a cliff, he really didn’t trust her.

“I’d have thought you’d trust her,” Tim muttered.

* * *

 

Tim was shocked when Damian had recruited him into his team for setting Jason and Raven up, but hell, if the brat wasn’t trying to kill him Tim was not going to stand in his way. And as long as Damian was focused on Jason then Tim wasn’t his target. Which meant Tim would have a bit of breathing room and he didn’t have to worry about Damian trying to stab him as often either.

Truthfully, Tim didn’t care if Jason and Raven hooked up or not, Tim was just happy to have Jason around. Jason had been his Robin, his idol, his hero, Jason was the coolest person ever! And now, Jason was alive, and Tim was still in awe of his big brother; Jason was larger than life! Not just a large man, because Jason was, but there was this thing about Jason which had Tim in awe of his big brother in a way he wasn’t in awe of Dick.

Dick was an awesome big brother; when he wasn’t siding with Damian, but Tim had never looked at Dick and been in awe of his big brother’s feats. Then there was Jason, and everything about Jason was a mystery, and cool. Jason was larger than life, and Jason was the brother Tim always wanted to know. Now Jason was real, and he liked books and cooking, his best friend was Raven, and Jason held more respect for women than men, Tim thought it all fascinating.

“Because I have sex with her?” Jason asked.

Tim nodded. What Tim knew of sex wasn’t too terribly much besides how it worked, but he figured there had to be trust with partners to have sex. “I just thought you’d have trusted her.”

Jason snorted. “No, it’s chemistry Replacement, not trust. I trust, Queen, here with my life, more than the viper with a butter knife.”

“That’s a sad statement,” Raven sighed.

“Honestly though, Rose is a fucking menace,” Jason stated coldly.

“And you’re not?”

“I’ll have you know I am, but not like her,” Jason countered.

Tim ignored Raven and Jason bantering as he pulled out his phone when it buzzed, it was Damian. Evil troll, Tim scowled, and he thought about ignoring the text but curiosity got the better of him as he opened the message up.

-Recruiting Dick.

-Do Not Leave Him With That Slut!

Tim just blinked at this, and sighed as he typed the answer Damian would want so Damian would leave him alone before leaning back in his seat. It was kind of nice for a change just fighting with Damian. Not having to worry about Damian stabbing him when his back was turned. And for as long Jason and Raven were around, Tim would indulge in Damian's whim to set them up. Internally he apologized profoundly to them, but they were the sacrifices for peace at this moment so maybe he could sleep and not worry about being stabbed in his bed.

* * *

 

“So she’s the mysterious red C-cup bra?” Raven snickered. Back in August, when she had come to visit Jason at one of his safehouses, she had found a lacey red bra that had been torn off it’s owner tucked between the bed and nightstand.

Jason sighed. “Yeah, she’s the owner of the red bra.”

“Did she ever get that back?” Raven mused.

“She’ll get it back when I get my jacket back, fucking thief!” he growled.

“This from you,” Raven rolled her eyes.

“I never got into stealing clothes,” he shrugged. “And I liked that jacket, loved that jacket, had this awesome hide out for a razor blade, easy to get to also, fucking loved that jacket. And she stole it! Fucking bitch!”

“The horror of it,” she mocked. She understood that Jason was attached to few material possessions, that weren’t weapons, and while he liked his jackets, he wasn’t attached to them. He was attached to his wallet, and a Gotham Knight’s ballcap, and a few of his books. But other than that, he wasn’t actually all that sentimental. And no, she didn’t know what his deal with his wallet was, but he didn’t like feeling like he lost it; not even because of his IDs, he changed those like some changed underwear, it was some other reason for the attachment. Raven knew, she’d been called by him to help find it, which was how she had found the bra too.

“The thing about Rose,” Jason started.

“Jay, it’s fine, so long as she doesn’t pitch me off another cliff,” Raven assured him.

He winced at that. “I’d apologize, but Rose did it on purpose if I know her.”

“It’s fine,” Raven assured him as they pulled to a stop in an alley. Jason got out, and Raven followed, Tim on their tail as they looked up at the building. “This it?”

“Yup, come on,” Jason’s hand found the small of her back as Tim followed them. They walked in the front, he went to the elevator, and she leaned in a corner.

“So what is she going to give us?” Tim asked.

“No fucking clue, last I saw her she was trying to stab me,” Jason said.

“Really?” Raven asked.

“Yeah, she had also chained me to the fucking bed,” he growled the last part, and Raven bit her lip in amusement to keep from laughing. Jason gave her an unamused look then. “Go on and laugh,” he sighed in defeat.

Raven snorted. “I’m not laughing,” she said tightly.

“You are a very shitty liar little bird.”

“Why would she chain you to the bed?” Tim asked.

“Seriously, she was trying to kill me,” Jason answered and Raven frowned at that. They walked off at Rose’s floor and Jason picked up a key before walking into an apartment. Raven walked in after Jason with Tim on her heels, the door shut.

“Flower you better be dressed! I’m not in the mood for your games,” Jason shouted. and they rounded the corner to see Rose lounging with a sniffer and gun in hand.

“Please, you’re always in the mood, and a foursome, my-my, aren’t we getting a little ahead of ourselves,” Rose chuckled. “Though I should warn you the kid looks too young for a good fuck, but we can break him in,” she mused.

Raven glared then as she stepped between Rose and Tim. She didn’t know what to make of this as she folded her arms. Jason just sighed tiredly, as he stood between her and Rose looking imposing.

“Rose, the intel,” Jason cut through.

“You’re no fun,” Rose pouted.

“We never have fun,” Jason countered as they walked through the door, Raven followed.

“Here, it’s all about daddy dearest’s latest plans, over three hundred hours of recordings of intel and the plot he’s currently formulating,” Rose said.

“And this pertains to me how, flower?” Jason asked as he took that USB stick from Rose.

“Well, you should know that Slade’s been trying to talk his partners into using your favor you owe him, and the plan is right up your particular skill set,” Rose answered as she knocked her drink back.

“Do they have names?’ Raven asked as she took the USB and handed it to Tim, who inspected it.

“Actually, no, but I didn’t have a chance to properly bug this house,” Rose answered. “They’re after nukes, and Jay, they’re going for the League.”

“The League?”

“First run is against the Titans, but the guy Dad’s working with fully intends to take out the League. He wants all heroes heads on a spike,” Rose said.

“That’s not going to be easy, even with Nukes, and League of Assassin training,” Tim said.

“Oh, this guy, he’s not LoA material,” Rose snorted. “Not compliant, worse than Jay, no fucking way they’d have taken him. He’s got a god complex.”

“So what’s their angle?” Jason asked.

“They’re after something called the Gem, I don’t know if that means anything to you, but Dad was familiar with it, saying how it could destroy the League if they destroyed the Titans,” Rose shrugged.

Raven paled then as she suddenly wanted to duck behind Jason but she didn’t. This wasn’t good, if Slade was after her in particular that could mean only one thing. He wanted her father, and Raven knew that if she was not here there was no way the League could ever beat Trigon. She could barely beat him, and she was born to be his door.

“The Gem?” Tim asked. “You’re sure?”

“Yup,” Rose said as she popped her ‘p’ before pouring herself another sniffer of alcohol, scotch, Raven read.

“Why would he be after the Gem?” Jason asked.

“Do you know what the Gem is?”

“I have a vague idea,” Jason answered.

“Alright, that’s more than me, and I don’t know, he’s just talking about it’s power. He’s been working his team over on getting the Gem. The idea came to them from a Roy fella, I think he’s Arsenal, but I’m not sure, and there was a chick who had his baby. They recently stopped being a part of the voices on the recordings though,” Rose said.

“What makes them think they could use the Gem?” Raven asked in a cold voice, she refused to feel small or intimidated at the thought of being Slade’s obsession again.

“I don’t know, Slade’s partners haven’t been too keen on using the Gem, but the guy is sounding more interested in this Gem.”

“Kay, Rose, now what do you want for this?” Jason asked.

“I just want a shot at my dad,” she purred. “You know, settle the score, eye for an eye and all that, I just want to make him bleed.”

“That’s it?” Jason asked skeptically.

“That’s it,” she agreed in a clearly exasperated tone.

“Fine, and Rose, my deal now extends to Raven here, touch a single hair on her head and I’ll kill you, slowly, and painfully,” Jason snapped. Raven blinked at this as she tilted her head back to Jason who was glaring at Rose.

“Don’t worry, honey, I got the message,” Rose said sweetly.

“Good, and if you want a shot at Deathstroke then have at it, I’m not going to stand in your way about it,” Jason shrugged.

“No, Jay, I want you to help me kill him, because he’s coming to you, so help me, and all that intel is yours, plus my hacker,” she offered. Raven looked between Jason and Rose and she saw he was seriously considering this.

“Flower,” he started.

“Think it over, I got much more intel, that’s just the tip, in exchange, I want my Dad,” she said.

“You and your fucking daddy issues are going to get you killed one day,” Jason growled.

“Oh, like yours?” she purred. Jason flinched slightly but Raven touched his arm, she didn’t understand his pain at this but she got that Jason didn’t like what Rose had said.

“Careful Rose, this could bite you in that beautiful ass of yours,” Jason growled.

“I doubt it,” she huffed. “So, deal?” she asked.

“Fine, just fucking fine, fuck me over though, literally, or figuratively, and I’ll hunt you down Rose,” Jason warned.

“You weren’t saying that last time,” she mused. “Or is this the new play thing that has all your attentions now?”

Rose’s blue eye slid to her and Raven frowned.

“I know where Hell is located and will send you there,” Raven warned sharply.

“Ooo! A feisty one, good pick Jay,” Rose teased.

“Why does everyone think I sleep with you?” Jason asked as he looked at her. Raven shrugged.

“Because you do,” Tim said unhelpfully which had Raven face-palming then.

“Come on, we’re leaving,” Jason growled. Rose was laughing a pure, amused, unadultered laugh as they left and Raven wanted to strangle Tim then.

“You think you can check this intel?” Jason asked Tim as they rode the elevator.

“Yeah, I don’t know why she didn’t just bring it the first time,” Jason’s little brother answered.

“Because she was hoping for a fuck,” Raven answered unhelpfully which had Jason groaning.

* * *

 

She walked out of Gotham International Airport and looked around at the grey, slushing city. God she hated this city, hated it! But her son was here, so she was here as she hailed a cab and called in her reservation at the Hilton.

She paused at a gossip stand as she picked up the paper.

 _Prodigal Son’s Lover!_ -by Vick Vale

Sheila softened seeing the blurred image of her son with a petite black haired woman. She wondered what sort of woman the girl was. Was she good enough for her son? Sheila wanted a chance to gage this woman properly herself, Bruce’s judgement obviously couldn’t be trusted with Jason.

Jason had been Robin as a child!

Sheila sighed as she loaded up in her cab and sat there quietly staring out at the city.

Gotham, it never changed. For as modernized as it was, it still managed to have this old-fashioned forties-fifties vibe. Even with the tech evolving, and the times moving forward, but it still retained this old-fashioned vibe. Men still wore shabby hats and fedoras, women wore nice dresses, or grungy, it was just this vibe.

Then there was all the mafia, and mob, and gangs, Sheila had hated it. Gotham was a wretched city that had given her nothing, but had effortlessly stripped her of everything.

Willis had been married, and planted a baby in her belly when she had told him she couldn’t have a child. He had taken her child though, and Sheila hadn’t looked back ever again. Now she kind of wished she had looked back.

She looked up when she pulled in front of her hotel and got out to check in. Tomorrow she would see her son.

* * *

 

Bruce just stared at the photo he had of Jason, young and carefree in his first leather jacket, grinning. Here Jason looked like what he was, a kid, a teen, his whole life before him and his dream of going to college reach. Now Jason was a stranger, a self-sacrificing stranger apparently.

“Staring at that photo will not get you to know your son,” Selina said, and his head snapped up seeing her with Terry in her arms.

“I just… how could I miss him? Miss these deals? Miss that he was alive!?” he asked her desperately. Selina walked forward then.

“Because he decided where he was going to hide, in your blind spots, Bruce. I didn’t even know he was alive either, I knew about the deals, but until he was real again, I didn’t know who these deals were being made with,” Selina said.

“Why wouldn’t he come home?”

“He’s here now,” Selina said as she touched his arm, and Bruce’s eyes flicked towards her.

“He is,” he agreed as he took his son from her.

“I’d try to bond with who he is now Bruce, he seems pretty cool,” Selina smiled.

“Jason was always cool,” Bruce said softly with amusement.

Selina laughed and he pulled her to him as he kissed her brow. Terry giggled then.


	10. A Cat and a Bird in a Tree

It caught her eye because she was walking with Jason and Tim out of Rose’s safe house and she paused seeing it.

Her Human Picture! ON THE FRONT PAGE!?

The headline also had her attention as she swiftly puled away from Jason as she jogged across te street, a horn blared with a furious shout but Raven was focused as she stopped before the tender and snatched up the paper.

 _Prodigal Son’s Lover!_ -by Vicki Vale

Raven growled a bit as she furiously tore through the pages and found the article; ‘Miss Roth’, was the only name provided.

“Yo, little bird, what the hell!?” Jason said as jogged to join her.

“Did you know about this!?” she snapped shoving it at him, he blinked dumbly.

“Uh… No, and WHAT THE FUCK!?” Jason roared as he snatched it from her. “How the fuck…? Bruce.”

“I’m going to kill him!” Raven snarled as she started towards the car. A hand caught her wrist and yanked her into a spin as she crashed into Jason’s chest. There was a blaring horn with swearing roaring by and Raven frowned. “Ow,” she muttered.

“Fucksakes Queen, Watch Where The Hell You’re Going!” Jason roared as he pulled her back. “Fuck, are you alright?” he demanded as he looked her over and she scowled.

“I’m human, not fragile,” she stated coldly.

“Could have fooled me,” Jason sighed, Raven frowned. Her mother, her teachers, the monks, and Azar had said that when she’d been human the first time.

“I just… I forget, I’m breakable right now,” she admitted.

“Look, that’s fine, what’s not fine is you walking into traffic, now let’s go before you manage to get stabbed by an ice sickle,” he snapped as he pulled her close and Raven sighed. This was not helping as they jogged across street to the car. Once they were hooked up Tim looked up the article and read it aloud to her and Jason. The drive to the Manor was not pleasant with the slew of swearing from Jason before he groaned and his head dropped to the wheel.

“Fuck Me!” he growled. “Fine! Fucking Fine! I QUIT!” Jason shouted as they pulled to the gates. He was out as he slammed the door with enough force to rock the car. Raven sighed as she looked over at Tim.

“Where’s your father, right now?” she grounded out. It didn’t take being an empath to know Jason was upset as he stalked off, clearly furious.

“Um… the cave?” Tim squeaked. Raven stalked out of the car as she strode through Manor. She used Jason’s codes to the cave as she stalked into the darkness. She found the Bat at the computer, a napping baby in his arm as she slammed the tattered, wet paper down before him on the keyboard. Bruce looked at her with a look of mild annoyance then.

“You Had No Right,” Raven grounded out coldly as she leaned over him. “None.”

“He’s my son,” Bruce started.

“I’m not here about that, that’s between you and Jason, but you had no right to put me in the middle of this,” she snapped. “‘ _Miss Roth, the elusive lover of the young, Jason Todd, was not available for a comment, and all that is known about her is her surname. It is believed they met on their travels_.’ You had no right to drag me into this!” she spat as she growled lowly.

“Raven, it was not…”

“No, I don’t have a civilian identity for a reason, and you had no right to use my mother’s surname without my permission to leak it to the press; especially a reporter who made me out to be Jason’s illustrious lover,” she coldly said.

The older man blinked, almost as if he were dumbfounded by this but Raven wasn’t backing off this. She had never set up a civilian identity, and now someone would be digging for her. Raven shuddered to think what that could turn up since her mother had said she was in a cult. That meant Vicki Vale might upturn some Satanists Raven would rather not meet; ever.

“You do not have a civilian identity?” Bruce said as if this was just sinking in.

“None, and I didn’t want one. Now thanks to you, there’s a reporter who’s going to go digging into your fictitious Miss Roth who might uncover a Satanist cult!” Raven snapped. “Which might lead this cult to me, and that isn’t something I want, and I don’t think you’d want it either.”

“Raven, I did not mean to over step,” Bruce started awkwardly.

“You over stepped!” Raven snapped. “I’m not your kid, I’m not a member of your family, and I’m a guest here by choice. You had no right to do this, not to me,” Raven growled lowly. “But as you have, you might as well make me an identity and it’d better not be linked to that cult.”

“I see,” Bruce said. Raven just groaned as she rubbed her brow; she hated being human.

“What would you like your first name to be?” Bruce asked then.

Raven blinked at this question and her mind raced really fast. “What?”

“If you’re having me build a civilian identity then you need a name, Miss Roth,” Bruce said.

“Rachel,” Raven blurted out. “Rachel Roth, my mother’s name was Arella, and I’ll call Victor and ask if he’d like to be my official adopted brother,” Raven grounded out the last part and saw Bruce look slightly sheepish as she stood up. _Good_ , maybe he’d think before acting next time.

Pulling out her phone she walked away a bit as she dialed Victor’s number.

It rang twice.

“Hola! Rae!” Victor bellowed gleefully in her ear which had Raven wincing and softening.

“Hey Vic,” she sighed hearing her brother’s happy, loud voice. It was soothing to her.

“What’s up?” he asked clearly happy to hear from her.

“I was wondering how you’d like to officially be my brother?” she said uncertainly. Yeah, she and Victor always claimed to be family; it was hard not to when Victor had loudly declared; after beating up Gar, that she was his little sister and not a piece of property. Yeah, fourteen wasn’t a great age to try to date a hormone raging Beast Boy, who had more often times than not been a beast rather than a boy.

“Rae?”

“Kay, please don’t come shoot anyone, but, Vicki Vale published an article, and a certain, obstinate, tunnel-visioned father, let my name leak; as Miss Roth, and now he’s making me an identity.” Raven explained. Enunciating her thoughts on Bruce pointedly enough she knew the elder Bat was hearing her.

“Oh shit,” Vic sighed.

“Yeah, so… want it official?” she asked uncertainly.

“Of course, it was official already, Rae,” Victor sounded amused.

“Once it’s done you can’t back out,” she pointed out; desperately hoping he understood he’d be tied to her and her insanity for forever if they did this. It wasn’t marriage or something, it was family.

“Rae, you’ve been my sis for nearly as long as I’ve known you, just get the damn papers and I’ll make my records match,” Victor declared.

“Okay,” she said shakily. She never knew just quiet what to make of Victor’s acceptance of her, it far exceeded what her friends and the people gave her; mostly because his was given in joy all the time. Even when he introduced her.

“So what’s the name of my baby sis?” he asked.

“Rachel Roth,” she answered.

“Well Rae, nice to officially have you, I always wanted a baby sis,” he laughed, and she smiled.

“Really?” she asked skeptically.

“Definitely, I’ll swing up there for the Wayne Gala; Dick invited me, and say hi to my sis then,” Victor decided.

“Thanks.”

“Hey, Rae,” his tone was serious now.

“Hm?” she hummed.

“I love you girl,” Victor stated. Raven didn’t know why her eyes burned then, or why her heart felt tight but she felt the smile on her lips all the same.

“I love you too Vic,” Raven replied softly.

“Talk to ya soon,” he decided and she hummed in agreement as the call ended. She wasn’t surprised when Bruce was making papers signing her and Victor up as siblings.

“Next time Bruce, ask,” Raven snapped as he worked.

“Mmm,” he hummed unhelpfully and Raven sighed as she stood up and walked away. Raven walked back up to the house and took a steadying breath as she focused on not losing her temper at the article.

“Lovers huh?” an amused voice spoke which had Raven’s head whipping around to see Selina lounging on the window sill. For a woman who had just given birth she was dropping the weight remarkably quickly, Raven blinked though at the warmth on Selina’s face.

“No, no, and no! Why does everyone think this!? He’s a friend! And I don’t date!” Raven stated firmly.

“No need to get angry, little bird,” Selina chuckled. “And I know, Jay and I had this chat.”

“You did?” Raven blinked.

“Of course, I wanted to talk with my favorite Robin about his girl,” Selina chuckled. “And relax, I get what you two have and why it’s so special. Though he is a good looking young man and one couldn’t blame a girl for wanting him.”

“Yeah, he is good looking,” Raven conceded in amusement. But then all the Bats were good looking men, even Damian held promise to be as handsome as his father; clearly favoring his mother’s coloring though.

“Good to know you’re not blind,” Selina mused.

“I do have four eyes,” Raven pointed out and the Cat let out a throaty laugh.

“Oh, I see why he likes you so much now,” the older woman mused.

“What exactly do you want?” Raven sighed tiredly.

“I just want to know the bird my Robin’s befriended,” Selina said.

“Why?”

Selina paused as she tilted her head a bit. “Why would I want to know you?”

“Yes, I’m not special or new, so why is this important?” Raven asked bluntly.

“Well, he didn’t have friends before, and I don’t think he’s had many since,” Selina said softly. “Growing up in Crime Alley, or the Bowery, it’s not easy, to be a child, on your own on the streets, it makes you grow up fast, and it’s lonely. I know he did not fit with his peers as a teen, though he tried. He worked hard to fit with his peers. He was a very studious boy, very serious about his education, and he loved to be alive. But beneath it all, he was alone, Dick was not a bg brother, and Bruce was trying, Alfred befriended him, and he had me, but he did not have friends. I don’t believe he has many, if any now; outside of Constantine’s group.

“But he has you now, and you two are very close for only knowing one another for a short while, I would like to know more about you. He is precious to me, he’s family,” Selina said calmly.

Raven bit her lip then and folded her arms as she thought this over.

“I like tea, want some and we’ll talk?” she offered hesitantly. Few people ever actually wanted to just get to know her; Victor and Jason along with Tim, Dick and Kori were of the few. Selina softened then and smiled a bit.

“Tea is lovely,” the Cat agreed as they walked for the kitchen. “Relax little bird, I’m not going to pounce you.”

Raven pursed her lips. “I feel like I’m about to be interrogated.”

“Nonsense,” Selina dismissed. “I’m getting to know my Robin’s friend.”

“Why is he your Robin?” Raven asked as she reached up and pulled down the teapot.

“They’re all mine,” Selina said carefully. “But Jason, he was special, we’re from the same part of Gotham.”

“Really?” Raven asked.

“Yeah, I grew up two alleys down from where he set his box up,” Selina nodded.

* * *

 

Diana, Donna, Cassie, Cass, Babs, Steph, and Kori were out soon after Tim, Raven and Jay had left, shopping again, which meant Dick had time to do his papers now. He had recently bought Haly’s Circus to help them out, it was his family and home once, and in a way, it still was. Looking down at the numbers he scowled at the recent buying of this mess; he’d seen mob books cleaner and better kept than this. He looked up when his door was shoved open, there was a clicking of nails over the old wooden floors of the Manor. Damian stalked into the room with a determined look on his face which warned Dick he wouldn’t be getting any more work done now. Sighing he put the papers aside.

“I was informed by Drake that you need to join our ranks,” Damian stated.

“Damian?” Dick blinked; there were two reason Tim and Damian would team up together and both options made Dick shudder at the mere thought.

“This Rose Wilson must be eliminated,” Damian stated clambering up onto the bed.

“Uh…” Dick blinked.

“We cannot permit her to continue her… relations with Jason! He is too stupid to stop!” Damian snapped. Dick sighed then, this again.

“Damian, we cannot control Jason, and messing with his life right now might drive him further away,” Dick said patiently.

“He is being an idiot! He cannot be trusted with matters this important!” Damian stated.

“Dami,” Dick sighed. “What are you trying to do?”

“Drake said we would require assistance, your assistance, in this matter,” Damian explained this as if Dick were an invalid. Dick sighed, he should probably join whatever this was so Jason wasn’t completely driven away from the family.

“What are you trying to do, exactly Damian, I’m not disposing of her body,” Dick clarified. Knowing Damian and Tim teaming up that was a possibility, bodies might drop. He didn’t want them to end up in a war.

“Drake said the same thing,” Damian pouted a bit as he folded his arms and looked a bit cross at this. However, Dick didn’t want there to be confusion with Damian on this matter. Also, he didn’t know what Rose was to Jason, there was complications there that they didn’t know about.

“We’re not going to kill her Damian, and besides, what if she’s someone to Jason? And you kill her? How do you think Jason would like that?” Dick asked to clarify the situation with Damian. He didn’t want Damian to lose sight of what this could be. They didn’t know anything about Jason, nothing, and Dick was coming to know this in the little amount of time Jason would allow them to spend with him. What Dick did know was that there were three important women to Jason at this moment, and one he tolerated. One, Raven, it was obvious, they were friends with how familiar they were. Two, Selina, not as obvious, but Jason seemed to look to Selina for something; he clearly respected her and as he did not respect many, if any. And three, Zed, an obvious pick, but it was very clear that Zed was someone Jason allowed to be close to him. Then there was Rose, and as far as Dick could decipher Rose was someone Jason tolerated; at most, but there might be something else there if they weren’t careful.

“She is no more fit to being his than a snake,” Damian muttered.

“Not the point,” Dick countered. “So, Dami, what exactly is your plan here?”

“It should be obvious,” Damian stated so matter-of-factly that Dick sighed. Yup, it was this again.

“Did you ever think that Jason and Raven don’t want to date, or even be a couple?” Dick offered. He had some experience with that because of Barbara. When he’d been young, and stupid, he had tried to force something there, that wasn’t there after the Joker. Or was it after her crush on Bruce was ousted? He didn’t know, but he did know that forcing something that wasn’t ready could kill things before it was ready.

“They are ridiculous,” Damian dismissed.

Dick internally apologized a thousand times over to Jason and Raven for what he was about to do, mostly. “Fine, what are you doing?”

“Drake said I’d have to do more than a mistletoe,” Damian muttered. Dick sighed; at least Damian wasn’t actually making real plans with these two. It wouldn’t do if there were real plans here.

“The mistletoe?” Dick sighed.

“It works in all the books,” Damian said seriously.

“What books?”

“Kara’s Harliquins,” Damian answered. Dick felt like breathing a sigh of relief and facepalming all at once.

“First of all, this is nothing like the books, or movies,” Dick sighed. Romance wasn’t anything like in the books or movies, it wasn’t some switch flipped. Yeah, he felt a lot when Kori had kissed him the first time, but he also hadn’t felt something for her until they were older, a lot older. And sorting those feelings out had not been easy.

“Why not? Books never lie,” Damian stated so innocently and seriously that he sighed.

“Little D, it’s complicated,” Dick said carefully. “But I’ll help.”

Internally he was apologizing profoundly to Jason and Raven for when and if they ever found out. It was more like when, because if he was honest Raven would find out. Raven always found out. Raven wasn’t a fool, and she was rather good at ousting him and Tim in their antics. As for Jason, Jason had been a Robin and he wasn’t stupid by any means.

“Good, so what more than a mistletoe do I need to do?” Damian asked earnestly.

“First we need to get them to notice the other,” Dick sighed. He could not believe that he was in on this, now that he was agreeing. The damn things he did for his brothers. He’d have to figure out how to keep Jason and Raven from being ambushed, and he did not want them to find out this is what is going on.

* * *

 

Selina had never been particularly good at sharing the people she would come to consider hers. It had started with Bruce, when they were kids. That awkward, dorky, naïve kid, he was the first person she loved, truly loved, who wasn’t her family. He was also the most awkward sucker ever, if some pedophile van pulled up to him on the street, and a pedophile offered him candy to get into the van, the kid just might take it without thought. Of course that was when Bruce was a sweet, innocent dork.

Bruce brought Alfred Pennyworth, and for a long while she and Alfred did not like one another, they had different points of view.

Then there’d been Dick, and then Jason, then there was Tim, Cass, Stephanie, well, one got the idea. Now there was Damian, Terry, and Helena with Bruce. There was Jason again, and with Jason had seemingly come this little bird with him, one that Dick, Tim, and Damian were all attached to. However, as Jason was both her favorite Robin, and the one she understood the most, she wanted to know just what about this little bird was so important. And appealing.

This little bird was interesting though. Raven sat across from her with her dark hair pulled back and dark eyes watching her with this look. Her features were arranged in this indifference, but those dark eyes of hers were watching everything with this sharp calculation.

“So, what do you wish to discuss first?” Raven asked setting a tea before Selina. Selina’s lips curled upwards then. This little bird was not one for beating around the bush.

“Not going to do the small talk, are we kid?” Selina chuckled.

“I don’t like small talk.” The moment Raven said that Selina chuckled, oh, this could be fun.

“Alright, I’ve heard you’re a demon, is that true?” Selina asked. Yes, she’d seen the news, knew all about Trigon the terrible, but she was curious if it was actually true.

Raven blinked and there were four glowing red eyes on her face now. “You tell me.”

“You look human enough.”

“I know,” Raven blinked and she had two eyes again. “My lack of powers does not change my physiology, I am a demon.”

“Neat,” Selina mused leaning back in her seat.

“So how’d you and Bruce meet?” Raven asked.

“I saw his parents get killed, then Gordon thought I would be safe hidden here,” Selina shrugged. “He was a dork, the biggest dork, ever,” Selina smirked.

“Really?” Raven blinked in disbelief.

“Oh yes, he was the biggest dork,” Selina snickered.

“Now that is interesting to know,” Raven looked devious then.

“Oh, I got all the dirt on Bruce, and Dick, and Jason, and Tim, and I’m getting the dirt on Damian,” Selina purred.

“Oh, dirt, I love dirt, I got dirt on all the boys too,” Raven mused with a grin which made her worthy of her demon heritage.

“I like you, little bird,” Selina chuckled. “Did Jason really steal you mind?”

“Yes he did, the ass stole my mind, and my book, pretty sure he did Red X because of you,” Raven sighed.

“Possibly,” Selina admitted. She would admit to discussing the thrill of being a thief, of deceiving people as they ran. As a kid from Crime Alley, that was her ultimate thrill, Jason had possessed the same thrill at one point, and it was what had attracted him to the Batmobile.

“Alright, makes sense,” Raven conceded. “So, did Jason really steal the Batmobile’s wheels?”

“He got three of them, he only got caught because he went back for four,” Selina chuckled.

“Impressive,” Raven nodded as she sipped her tea.

“How’d you meet Dick?” Selina asked. She had never really heard the real story about how Dick had met Raven, just that he had found an adorable little twelve year old demon.

“I unintentionally dream walked him, and then tracked him down,” Raven shrugged. Selina mulled this over as she sipped her tea. The world had kind of gone to shit when the Waynes had died, and weird things happened because of that death. People with powers, aliens, and all that had started in Gotham before it had gotten worldwide.

“Alright, that was a new one,” Selina conceded. “Impressive and interesting though.”

“Now, dirt on Bruce, what was the nuttiest thing you caught him doing?” Raven asked.

“He was about to be murdered by a religious cult,” Selina said. Raven blinked.

“And here I thought I was the only one screwy religious cults went after,” Raven admitted. Selina chuckled at that.

“No, far from it,” Selina admitted.

“Interesting,” Raven mused.

“So, where are you really from?”

“A dimension between the multiverse, called Azarath, and before you ask what happened to it, I unintentionally destroyed it when I was nine years old and I felt every life I took as they died,” the woman said sadly.

“Taking life is never easy, the first man I killed was to protect Bruce, at night, I see his face,” Selina admitted.

“I feel them, all of them, their dying hopes, their pain, the suffering,” Raven murmured.

“It’s not easy,” Selina said softly.

“So, what was the best thing you ever stole?” Raven asked.

“Ooo, very personal,” Selina chuckled. “My first diamond from Gotham Natural History Museum, damn Bats got it though.”

“That sucks,” the little bird said with a hint of laughter.

“So typical Bruce though, why I didn’t notice it before I don’t know,” Selina chuckled.

“It’s the ones we love the most we’re blind to,” Raven shrugged.

“That’s oddly cryptic,” Selina observed.

The girl just shrugged as she sipped her tea. “Azar and my mother said it, a lot, I never understood it’s meaning.”

“You understand it now?” Selina asked.

“Nope.” Raven shook her head. “Honestly it still makes zero sense.”

“Yet you say it?”

“I hope it’ll make sense, eventually,” Raven shrugged.

* * *

 

Jason had hidden out after returning from Rose’s, he didn’t want to deal with Bruce. Which was why he wince waking up when there was a glare in his eye. Opening his eye, he peeked out the east library window, the sunrise. Jason winced as he rubbed his eyes, fan-fucking-tastic, another morning. He didn’t even remember falling asleep. Stretching out he winced at how sore his legs and back were, his shoulders were tense too as finally stood up from his hide hole. Rolling his shoulders, he looked around as he walked out of the room, shoving his hands into the sweats he remembered changing into because he felt stiff and confined.

Grumbling a bit, he walked down the stairs as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Alright, his first order of business was to see if Rose’s intel was legit or not. Then maybe he should talk to Bruce about this being alive shit; he didn’t want to deal with Bruce, or Dick or this false cheer they’d have about him being alive and here. Goddamn it! When had his life gotten so fucking complicated!? Admittedly, that might have started when he had clawed his way out of his grave.

He paused at the door when there was a knock. Instinct had him pulling the door open, before thoughts and actions could connect to what he was doing he found himself tensing as his world froze.

Everything in him screamed, and tensed as he found himself staring at those eyes. The very eyes that haunted many of his nightmares.

That sapphire blue, and that gold curly hair. Her high, sharp cheekbones, that full bottom lip, her brows, and that dented chin.

“Jason!” she smiled.

“B!” the cry tore out of his throat as he pulled away from the door, she stepped forward, and he curled in on himself. He felt like a kid again, scared, confused, and everything was shaking in him.

“Jason, I,” the woman reached for him.

“B!” he shouted as he scrambled away from them as he tripped over something, there was a scream but Jason scrambled back from her.

“Jason, I,” she started. She bent over, he snatched up the kid he had tripped over she was reaching for as he scooted away from her.

“B!” he screamed as he curled in on himself pulling the kid into his chest as he tried to hide from her.

“What is the meaning of this?” a smoky monotone snapped through the chaos, a set of legs were between him and the nightmare. He grabbed the material on her leg as he scooted behind her.

“Raven, Jason,” Bruce’s voice cut through terror he felt and Jason tightened his hold on the material in his hand.

“Bruce… I,” the woman started. There was a cry in his arm.

“Come on,” steady hands touched his arm and Jason grabbed them, the terror he felt at this moment as he stared at the gold hair and blue eyes was paralyzing him.

* * *

 

Bruce glanced over at Jason who’s own obvious terror was something he had never witnessed, even when Jason had been Robin Jason was fearless. Now though, the young man was curled up in terror.

“Get him out,” Bruce said to Raven. Raven was helping Jason, but the young man was obviously terrified for reasons he didn’t know. He watched until Jason, Terry, and Raven were out, Alfred and Selina appeared. Alfred helping Raven with Jason as Selina walked in.

“What is going on?” Selina demanded.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Bruce growled as he turned back to the only person he ever regretted saving. Sheila Haywood. He had found her, Jason’s dead body clinging to her, protecting her, because that’s what Jason did best. He saved people, protected, even in his death it was fitting. Jason had died saving Sheila, and that was the only reason Bruce hadn’t left the biological mother of his son die where she lay in the rubble and ruin.

“Bruce, I,” the woman started.

“I told you to never come here again, or near my children,” he snarled.

“I came here to see my son!” she snapped harshly.

“ ** _Your Son?_** ” Selina growled. Bruce saw the Cat bristling in her, there was that glint of fury in her green eyes which had him grabbing her arm before she lunged for Sheila. “ ** _HE WAS TERRIFIED TO SEE YOU! WHAT SORT OF MOTHER TERRIFIES HER OWN CHILD!?_** ”

“Selina,” he murmured to keep her from lunging.

“I’m cool, I’m cool,” Selina said pulling away from him.

“I doubt I terrify him, more like this lunatic who turned him into Robin,” Sheila shouted. now Bruce’s eye twitched. Of all his children Jason had actually wanted Robin, believed in Robin, and not like Tim, Dick, or even Damian. Jason had believed in what Robin could be or do, Robin was his magic as a child.

“ ** _ENOUGH!_** ” Bruce roared. As he glared down at Sheila, Selina looked livid right now. “I told you, I never wanted to see you.”

“I didn’t get my son killed,” Sheila growled.

“ ** _He’s Not Your—!_** ” Selina started, Bruce caught her waist when she was stalking forward about to commit murder apparently. He’d seen that look in her eye before and it never ended well for the person on the other end of that look. He remembered when Selina had been a girl she had looks like that before she did terrifying things; though then they were terrifying at the time he saw she was just protective now. What was hers was hers.

“Selina go check Helena,” Bruce ordered as he swung her around and pointed her in the direction to their nursery. “And you’re coming with me,” he grabbed Sheila and dragged her with him as he pulled her towards the study.

Sheila gasped. “ ** _I AM HERE TO SEE MY SON!_** ”

“ **You’re not going near _MY Son_ until he wants to see you!** ” Bruce snarled. “ **Before That We’re Going To Talk.** ”


	11. Guarding Precious Gems

Raven honestly had never seen Jason like this as she helped sit him in a chair at the kitchen table, there were tears streaming down his cheeks, and he was holding onto Terry in such a way that made her think he was defending the child from a monster.

“Hey, Jay, it’s me, Rae, I’m going to take Terry now,” she said softly as she knelt before him.

“Why’s she here!?” Jason desperately rasped.

“I don’t know,” Raven admitted as Jason released Terry. She stood to hand Terry off to Alfred when arms shot around her waist and she stumbled into his lap.

“No! You Can’t Go Near Her!” he shouted.

“I’m not going near her, Jason,” Raven said firmly, but she gave up trying to escape Jason’s grasp because she’d never have any luck with that. He was going to leave bruises; she could feel it already. Alfred took Terry from her and started checking the kid over and Raven slumped against Jason.

“You can’t go near her,” he muttered repeatedly in her hair. “None of you. Please!”

“Jason, no one is going near her,” Raven sighed as she awkwardly reached around to pat his head. She couldn’t do much pinned like this; and for such a massive, strong man, she was stuck right here until he decided differently. Raven wasn’t fool enough to think she could escape this hold.

Instead she looked to Alfred for information. Yes, she had seen the woman in Jason’s memories, but that meant nothing to her as she didn’t have a reference for who the woman was.

“Who was that?” Raven demanded. Alfred handed her a glass of orange juice and Jason didn’t seem to notice their exchange as he hid against her shoulder, muttering the same phrases over and over.

“That was Miss Sheila Haywood, Master Jason’s birth mother,” Alfred said. Raven blinked as something fell into place for what she had glimpsed in Jason’s memories which had her nodding. Yes, she had seen Jason’s death, it was of his most vivid memories before the Pit, and the emotions in it were something so twisted in pain and terror it was difficult to forget, but also there was an underlaying betrayal in that memory, and she remembered a glimpse of a blonde smoking. However, as that was not a memory Raven was looking directly at it was rather like walking by an open window in his mind, she’d glimpsed it, but hadn’t paid it much thought.

But with the new information about who the woman was, dots connected for Raven from dealing with Jason’s nightmares to now.

And it was probably a good thing Jason had an iron grip on her and Raven was powerless right now. Because what dots connected were ugly and Raven wanted to go skin that bitch alive. Instead she kept her face carefully blank as she sipped her orange juice and out waited Jason’s panic episode.

“You are remarkably calm, Miss Raven,” Alfred observed as he soothed Terry.

“I’ve had some practice with Jason and his nightmares,” Raven admitted blandly. The butler gave her a nod as he made a bottle for Terry. Right now, would be a good moment for her to slip away so she didn’t further confuse people about her relationship with Jason, but she was seriously not going anywhere as he tightened his grip.

“Jay, I can’t breathe, I’m not going anywhere but loosen up,” she pleaded. Honestly, she didn’t even know if he heard her, but slowly his muscles loosened, and she found it easier to breath.

The kitchen door was thrown open and Jason jumped as he tightened his grip and pulled them away from Dick. Raven gasped as she nearly dropped her OJ glass, Dick caught it though.

“Jaybird,” Dick reached for his brother and Raven caught his hand because she didn’t think Jason would react well to touch right now.

“Jason, can’t breathe!” Raven gasped. “And Dick, don’t touch,” she warned softly as Jason slowly loosened his hold again. Jason was still lost in his terror, she didn’t need to be an empath to know that as she just sat there and accepted her orange juice again.

“What happened? Jay used to…” Dick started, and Raven shrugged because it wasn’t her place.

“Hey Jay, I’m just going to sit right here,” Dick said carefully.

“So, Jason, I was thinking about watching Deadpool tonight, with a double feature of Wonder Woman from that dimension Constantine found, that should be good. Or we can continue reading Alexander Dumas, but I must warn you that I’m a bit cross eyed now, so I was thinking a movie night instead,” Raven said as she sipped her orange juice and shot Dick a prompting look.

Dick caught onto this talk then. “Oh, Deadpool, mind if we all join?”

“I don’t mind, Jay won’t either,” Raven said as she patted his arm.

“And what’s Wonder Woman?” Dick asked her.

“Glad you asked, it’s actually surprisingly accurate account of our Wonder Woman’s origins, it’s from a different dimension. Constantine found it and dropped it off at one of the safe houses, it’s really good.” Raven felt Jason relaxing and the muttering slowing, but he wasn’t completely at ease right now.

“Really?” Dick blinked.

“Yeah, it’s really good, best movie I’ve seen in a long while, other than Deadpool.”

“Of course, you like Deadpool,” Dick rolled his eyes and sat there with a smile. Jason glared at them both.

“Deadpool is fucking awesome,” Jason muttered.

“Never said it wasn’t,” Raven sipped her orange juice some more.

“You’re up to something little bird,” he mumbled into her hair.

“Me? Up to something? Never!” she mocked outrage and that was what had Jason almost fully releasing her as he scowled.

“What do you want dickhead?” he spat venomously, and Raven awkwardly kicked his shin. He scowled at her, she stuck her tongue out and he rolled his eyes.

“Can’t I just check up on my baby brother?” Dick asked nonchalantly.

“Go suck a cock,” Jason mumbled.

Raven elbowed him which had her receiving another glare, but she didn’t care as she glared back. Jason made no move to release her, she could still feel him trembling.

“Master Jason, language,” Alfred chided, and she felt Jason flinch as he tightened his hold and turned away from them a bit. Raven sighed at this action. Jason was complicated, Raven reminded herself. She needed to remind herself that he was complicated, and after having been in his head, dealt with the fall out of his nightmares. This was no different, just she was apparently something he was guarding because of how he kept moving. Raven didn’t know how to take that other than he’d done the same thing with Terry.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

Dick shot her a questioning look, but Raven shrugged. This submissive scared side of Jason was not a common to on lookers. She only knew about this side of him because he usually called her from a nightmare like this, and she’d have one of his guns trained on her.

“So, what happened Jaybird? You used to want to meet your mom,” Dick said.

 ** _Wrong words!_** Raven felt the shift in him then as he snarled, and that iron grip of his was there again. Raven didn’t need to look to see that his eyes were likely bright green; she knew the Pit was already close to the surface and that was probably another push for him mentally. That was probably the last thing he needed to hear.

“No!” Raven snapped as she twisted in his arms, slamming her heel on his exposed foot which had him jumping as he glared at her.

“You do not get to lose control over the Pit because of a legitimate, insensitive question!” she snapped, she saw Dick flinch then and internally praised herself for getting the point across to Dick.

“I never want to see her again,” Jason muttered.

“You’re Not Going To,” a new voice had Raven looking up as she saw Selina standing there with a baby in a sling, two duffels, and a furious look. Jason flinched as he curled up again. “Come on, I refuse to let my Robin stay in the same house as that witch.”

“Sunshine,” Jason started, and Raven opened her mouth to point out that she and Jason were bound together; not in the physical sense, now.

“Is coming with, get dressed,” Selina said as she dropped boots and coats there.

“Miss Kyle,” Alfred started.

“Something is up here, Alfred, and I’m not letting him stay with her, and they’re coming with me, when it’s safe I’ll bring them back,” Selina countered. Raven just struggled with boots as Jason finally released her and was hoisting on his boots quickly.

“I was going to advise you drive safe and call when you get to your safe house,” Alfred sighed.

“I’ll be back, they’re staying there though until this Sheila is gone,” Selina said, and Raven found herself walking with Selina and Jason. Jason looked ready to dive out the Manor and off the cliffs if it got him away from here. Raven slid into the passenger’s seat, Jason curled up in the back, his attention on Helena.

“So, mind telling me where we’re going?” Raven asked once they hit the highway for Gotham.

“To visit **_my_** family,” Selina said.

Raven blinked slowly at this information, but she didn’t say anything. They zipped through Gotham with ease, and Raven didn’t know much about the city, but she knew they were not in the best part of Gotham. If there was a good part of Gotham.

They pulled up in front of a building that was clearly once an animal hospital.

“Wait here,” Selina ordered as she got out of the car and walked into the building. Jason didn’t say anything, he was more relaxed though as he slouched in the back, looking like the twenty-one year old he was.

“You alright?” she asked levelly.

“Why is she here?” he whispered.

“Jason, she’s not important, and we’ll be rid of her soon. I don’t think Selina likes her, and Bruce didn’t seem happy to see her either,” Raven pointed out.

“I want her gone,” he muttered.

“She’s not staying, and I can always send her to hell if you’d like,” Raven pointed out.

“Please?” he weakly asked.

“Sure,” Raven shrugged; she’d do it. Just because of his memories alone. Raven didn’t like knowing that she’d do it.

“Why are we here and where are we?” Jason asked as if he were waking up from a stupor.

“I honestly don’t know, but Selina brought us,” Raven said as she stood to leave the car. Suddenly the door to the animal hospital opened and Selina opened the car door.

“Come on, they’re expecting us,” Selina said as she undid Helena and pulled the baby out of the car. Raven reluctantly followed, Jason did to and they walked in to a squeal.

“OH MY GOD SHE’S ADORABLE CAT!” a happy voice exclaimed, and Raven found herself staring at two of the most notorious villains in Gotham:

Harley Quinn And Poison Ivy.

Cautiously Raven took a step back only to jump when she bumped into Jason’s massive chest.

“Who’re the other strays?” the redhead asked.

“My Robin, and his darling little bird, they need a place to crash,” Selina said.

“Hey!” Jason started.

“Oh please, save that outrage, we’ve known who Battsie was since… well, Robin I. Selina’s relationship with Bruce only made it more obvious,” Harley dismissed coming up to her. Raven found herself hoisted into a hard hug then by the blonde. “You are just adorable, now, which Bat are you?”

“I’m not a Bat,” Raven said.

“Oh?” Ivy looked interested then.

“That’s Raven, from the Titans,” Selina said, and Raven balked at being ousted.

“And what are we supposed to do with them?” Ivy asked.

“They’re hanging out here, we got a situation up at B’s, and I’m going to possibly need help…” Selina trailed off.

“Oh! Is it illegal!? Will it be fun!? Can we bring Helena!” Harley bounced.

“We’ll see, now I’m going before B notices I’m missing, you two love birds be good!” Selina waved as she walked off, Jason made a sound of protest, but Raven knew it was too late for them when Harley’s eyes zipped onto her, and Ivy gave them a bored look.

“I told her to stop collecting strays,” Ivy sighed.

* * *

 

Selina had taken one look at Sheila, and Jason’s reaction; and Bruce be damned she was getting her Robin as far away from that woman as she could. Which had lead to her calling Harley, and Ivy, and telling them; not asking, that her room be set up for two and proceeded to hoist Helena along with her. She had gone to Raven’s room, where Jason had stashed most his stuff, packed them both duffels and then proceeded to high tail it out of there with her Robin and his bird.

Now, she knew Ivy wasn’t thrilled about having her drop of her ‘strays’ on them, but Selina still owned a third of that building so she’d drop whoever the hell she pleased off there. Besides, next to Wayne Manor and her penthouse, there was no safer spot in Gotham than the Siren’s hide out, because only a fucking moron would be stupid enough to break into their hide out. And Selina kind of pitied whatever poor mook did break in, because the putz would be in for a world of hurt.

Pulling back up to Wayne Manor Selina got out of the car with Helena, and she found herself face to face with her lover’s current Robin glowering at her.

“What is going on, where is Jason!?” Damian demanded as Selina closed the garage.

“I don’t know, but Jason and Raven are safe in a place I know,” Selina said as she bounce Helena slightly and walked into the Manor. The kid was hot on her heels though.

“Where are they!?” Damian demanded as he dogged her heels.

“Look kid, they’re safe, and that’s all that matters.” Selina was only happy if her precious gems were guarded; and that included her people. Jason had always been one of her people, and she was going to guard him carefully from Sheila Haywood. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that something bad had happened between Sheila and Jason, and if Selina was the betting sort of woman, she’d bet it had something to do with Jason’s death.

“I see,” Damian muttered.

“Why don’t you go Christmas shopping or something?” Selina suggested as they made their way to the nursery.

“I do not understand the point of that useless folly,” Damian snorted.

“It’s gifts for family kid,” Selina blandly pointed out as she carefully laid Helena down in her crib, kissing her sleeping daughter’s brow before turning her attention on the youngest Robin.

“And what am I supposed to get them?”

“What do you think they’d want?” she asked. Now the kid looked exactly like Bruce did, he looked so unsure and awkward, it was almost like looking in a mirror to when they were kids. No, Selina was not fond of Talia al Ghul; for many reasons, but she had to admit that the kid wasn’t all that bad. A vicious little fucker, but he was slowly emerging from his shell and becoming more like his father, a lot more like his father, and there was that awkwardness that only Bruce had possessed. And still possessed. Damian was so cute she’d have reached over and hugged him if she didn’t think the kid would stab her.

“Dick will require baby things, Drake, a rock, Cain would probably like a dress, McGinnis a block, and… Jason, Raven,” Damian surmised.

“Kay, first off, why does Dick need baby things? Most of those are good for the other, but you’re not getting your brothers something that unoriginal. And you can’t gift a person to someone, and why would you get Jason Raven?” Selina asked.

“Because he and Kori are going to have a baby. And Jason is stupid and slow, and they belong together,” Damian surmised. Selina frowned, the kid raised valid points here, but as always, he missed that he was not allowed to mess with personal lives. His father sucked at this lesson as well.

“We’re going to come back to the Dick having a baby thing. Listen squirt, they’re adults, and it doesn’t work the way you think so don’t go messing with them,” Selina warned him firmly. “And why not get Jay something less human, and something he’ll relate to better.”

“Raven,” Damian repeated. Selina now couldn’t shake the feeling that Raven might be kidnapped and tied up in a bow for Jason and made a mental note to warn the little bird of this.

“Let’s start smaller than Raven, kid. How about a puppy?” Selina offered. She’d say a kitten but knowing Jason he’d likely pawn it off to one of his siblings. However, if it was a puppy then he was stuck with it.

“A puppy?” Damian questioned her.

“He needs companionship, a friend, and someone who gets him, a puppy is a safe place to start,” Selina said.

“But…” Damian said.

“You are not kidnapping the demon and wrapping her up in a big red bow to give to Jason. There are so many horrid ways that’ll end,” Selina stated firmly.

The moment the kid looked dejected she surmised she had hit the proverbial nail on the head for what his plan had been. She made a mental note to warn Jason and Raven; mostly for that in case moment and Damian tied Raven to Jason’s bed or something. Best for them to be prepared. Just in case.

“Fine,” Damian muttered. “And a puppy?”

“Why not? You said he got you Titus, let’s get him a pup too,” she smiled as she ruffled the kid’s hair and walked out of the nursery with Helena sleeping.

* * *

 

Bruce walked into his study and shut the door with a firm lock. Not that it would ever keep any of his children out, but he could make the message to them clear that this was a private meeting. He turned on Sheila and she looked at him expectantly.

He hadn’t seen her since the moment she woke in the hospital, covered in burns, and his son dead. Bruce had taken that moment to warn the woman, just once, that if he ever saw her again, he’d ruin her. Sheila was alive, and his son was dead. Bruce felt no respect or affection for Jason’s biological mother, and after seeing his second son scared out of his mind, and hearing that terror in his son it was clear something terrible had happened. And Bruce wasn’t so inept at emotions that he had missed it, and he could take an educated guess that it was probably related to Jason’s death.

However, in Jason’s moment of terror, Bruce had felt a slight hope at hearing Jason shout for him. Jason, who didn’t appear to need anyone, and hated his guts, had cried out for him. And that cry had given Bruce a flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, beneath all of Jason’s pain and anger, Jason still needed him and wanted him. Bruce had never gotten over losing Jason and how things between them had been at the end. Jason was his son, and Bruce wanted his son back, he wanted his son home, and he wanted his child to be here again.

And Bruce couldn’t make up for Jason’s missing years, but he could damn well be there now and protect his son from this woman.

“I told you I never wanted to see you again or have you near my family,” he growled lowly as he glared at the woman.

“That was before my dead son was alive and here,” Sheila snapped.

“He’s Not Yours!” Bruce roared furiously.

Sheila flinched. “I gave birth to him!”

“Which clearly did not mean much to you as you gave him up to Willis,” Bruce coldly pointed out. Bruce hated Willis like he could hate no other man, and if there was some way to make Willis suffer Bruce would have sought it out, now. However, Willis was dead. Catherine was dead, and Jason had never spoken ill of Catherine, so Bruce could not dislike the woman as much as he hated Sheila and Willis.

“Willis wanted his son, and I couldn’t have a kid!” Sheila snapped.

“You Gave Him To Willis!” Bruce snarled with ice in his voice as he glared at the smaller woman. Sheila did not seem to understand all the damage she alone had brought upon Jason, she didn’t seem to even care that she had left him in the hands of a drunk thug.

“And You Made Him Robin!” Sheila shouted back. Bruce couldn’t argue that, but his eyes narrowed dangerously still on the woman as he took a step to her invade her personal space and use his height to loom over her. She shrunk back as he glared at her.

“He Is My Son. He Chose To Be Robin,” Bruce grounded out. For that was the truth of the matter. Of all his children, Jason had had the choice to be Robin after Dick had left. And Jason had wanted it, for Robin was his magic, his light, his whole world. Robin to Jason had meant everything. Unless it came to school, then school won out and Robin would be put aside, for Jason was the most studious of his children as a child. Now Bruce didn’t know if Jason was as studious, but he had a feeling that Jason had that same thirst for knowledge and that same ambition to learn.

“He was a child, he didn’t have the right to chose anything, and you made him Robin!” Sheila countered.

“Perhaps that is true, given his age, but Sheila, my son was left to fend for himself on the streets after his mother died, my son was more than self-aware about his actions and consequences,” Bruce said. “And you got him killed, so you have no right to speak about how he was as a child.”

“I…”

“I never knew what happened, how Jason could get caught by the Joker. Jason had more street smarts than I or anyone else for that matter, possessed, he was not easy to capture. The one time someone tried to kidnap him they found themselves bloodied, tied up and he drove the van to the police station where I had received the call from a friend that he had been snatched. So, I could never figure out how a fourteen year old, who at the age of twelve had beaten up his own kidnappers, would be caught by the Joker.

“The Joker’s good, but he’s never been good enough to actually catch Jason,” Bruce said with a measured tone. Sheila paled at every word he said.

“And until I saw his reaction to you I was more than willing to think he had recklessly run off after you, on his own accord. Jason was not above doing something like that,” Bruce admitted.

“I…”

“ _Silence!_ ” he hissed. “ **I Don’t Know What Happened. I Don’t Want To Know.** Because then Sheila, I might regret ever saving you. An act I only did because he had died shielding you. He is not your son, he is not your child, he is not yours. And if you ever come near **_MY_** son again, for any reason, I will not only ruin you, but I will destroy everything about your life so thoroughly that you will not be able to pick up and continue like you have this time.

“He’s Mine. Ever Come Near Him Again And You Will Be Destroyed,” Bruce warned her.

“You Can’t Do This! He’s My Son!” she shouted.

“He’s Mine! Not Yours!” Bruce roared which had her stumbling away from him, and he felt a vicious satisfaction at that.

“You’ll regret this! You have no right to keep me from my child,” she shouted. It momentarily stung him how those had been his words to Talia, but these circumstances were different. Jason was terrified of this woman, and Bruce would do everything in his power to keep her from Jason because Jason should never be scared. His too brave, too reckless, too self-reliant son should never be scared.

“Come Near Him Again Sheila And It’ll Be The Last Thing You Do.” He warned as she stormed out with a furious slamming of the door. Bruce rubbed his brow and pinched the bridge of his nose as he internally counted to ten before he really did lose his temper.

“You don’t actually think she lured Jason to the Joker, do you?” a small, weak voice asked which had Bruce looking up at his eldest who stood there looking… baffled, hurt, confused.

“Jason, despite never taking orders, wouldn’t have chased after the Joker on his own,” Bruce said carefully. Jason might have been reckless, and fierce, and he might have even been the most fearless person alive, but even Jason had limits. And at fourteen he knew he couldn’t take the Joker. It hadn’t stopped the Joker’s obsession with Jason, because for all of Jason’s career as Robin the Joker had tried to capture his son but Jason wasn’t easy to catch. Or contain, detain, or even keep still.

“Fuck,” Dick muttered then glared over his shoulder with such hate and malice at the direction Sheila had walked off.

“It is the only thing that fits with his reaction,” Bruce said levelly as he poured himself a rare drink and downed the brandy in one gulp.

“Selina took Jay and Raven out, she’s stashing them somewhere.”

“Hn,” Bruce grunted, he honestly didn’t know what to say to that. Selina hoarded the things she wanted to keep safe, and until Bruce knew what to say to Jason it might be for the best if Jason wasn’t here.

“Da!” a voice had Bruce looking up at his youngest son; a strange notion to get used to as he stood to get Terry. Dick sat across from him as they settled in the study. Dick had poured himself a drink and they both sat in silence as Bruce let Terry play with his hand.

“I never really thought about how the Joker would have gotten him,” Dick muttered.

Bruce said nothing because he actively avoided looking into Jason’s death. Was there anything he could have done? Said? Was there any way to have taken back all the doubts he had about Felipe Garzonas? Was there anything he could have done to stop Jason from running towards the Joker?

“B,” Dick said. “Do you think it was okay for Selina to just take Jason and Raven?”

“So long as he’s safe,” Bruce whispered softly. That was all he cared about now. He just wanted Jason safe.

* * *

 

Tara looked over at her sleeping boyfriend before she carefully sat up and walked out of the room to find the files she knew she could get and send to Slade.

Part of her scolded herself at this foolishness, for Slade had gotten her killed the first time she had trusted him. But…

But a smaller, more petty part of her wanted Raven gone. A large part of Garfield’s heart belonged to the empath and she wanted, no she needed the empath to be gone because Terra didn’t want to lose Gar. Gar was her rock; no pun intended. And she dreaded that empath stealing him.

Biting her lip, she looked at the files she had access to and she sighed as she managed to just send them. Tara didn’t care anymore, she didn’t care about the consequences. So long as that demon was gone she just didn’t care, and Gar…

He was hers.

Standing Tara closed out the programs, wiped her existence from the computer as she returned to their bed. Slipping in she noticed how Gar rolled away from her rather than to her, and a cold fury bubbled up in her. Raven needed to go, that’s all Tara knew for sure as she tried to scoot closer to her boyfriend for some sleep. Suddenly Garfield shoved her off him and growled in his sleep as he buried his face in his pillow.

* * *

 

Roy winced as he came to, and he stared out at the misty snow falling out his window. Everything hurt, unsurprisingly, he knew that everything wouldn’t stop hurting until he was sober again. Closing his eyes, he breathed slowly, it felt like he was dying this time, it sucked.

“Cool, you’re awake!” a voice had him slowly looking over at Dick’s younger brother, Tim.

“Hnhm,” he managed; his mouth felt like cotton right now and his throat felt like gravel.

“Dick is going to talk to you tonight, but I thought you’d like to know we are trying to get you a bed at an upstate facility in New York!” Tim explained.

Roy nodded; that was good. He’d need help getting sober. Being here at the Bats it was easy because they didn’t have what he wanted here. But… he could get it.

“Lian’s doing good, she’s of a normal weight and size apparently, Alfred said you’d want to know that,” Tim said.

“Queen?” he rasped.

“Oh, he doesn’t know you’re here, he does know you’re safe though,” Tim said.

Roy nodded; he was pretty sure Oliver would kill him. Thea was dead because of him, he’d hand Oliver the bow and arrows to kill him.

“And I don’t know if Oliver knows about Thea or not,” Tim said calmly.

Roy nodded.

“I’m sorry about her, Roy,” Tim said softly.

Not as sorry as I am, he thought bitterly as he shut his eyes. But he’d get sober first, then he’d figure this shit out. Oliver might never forgive him, and that was alright, but Roy wanted to apologize all the same. Oliver hadn’t been complete shit as a guardian.

Roy would almost considered him an older brother if this shit with Thea hadn’t happened.


	12. Shattering Ice

Jason backed up three steps before a firm hand grabbed his wrist and he stared at Ivy, Harley, then at Raven.

“Oh Fuck No!” were the first words out of his mouth.

“You grew up tall!” Harley giggled and bounced as she looked him over.

“You are not ditching me, powerless, in a den of villains!” Raven hissed.

“And I’m not standing in my murderer’s mistress’s house!” Jason snapped.

“Ex, Mistah Jay and I had a coming to Jesus meetin’ after he murdered a little kid,” Harley said sharply, the Staten Island ringing strong in her voice. “I do a lotta bad things, but I ain’t killing no baby. ‘Specially not Cat’s Robin.”

Jason blinked at that. “Really? A come to Jesus meeting with the Joker?”

“Broke his nose and knocked out two of his teeth,” Harley stated smugly. Jason felt a vicious satisfaction at this information.

“’Sides, Bats left him for dead, and in a body cast after that chopper crash and before the Invasion,” Ivy shrugged.

Jason blinked at that.

“This way to you room, and don’t step on the dogs, they’re Harley’s, don’t kill the cats, they’re Cat’s, and you so much as touch one of my plants, I’ll kill you,” Ivy said as she walked them down a hall. Raven’s grip was firm, and he just found himself following her reluctantly. He found himself in a room that was large, had a big bed, and scattered knickknacks about it, and then the door was shut behind him which had him jolting a bit. Raven released him, and Jason hurried to the window, inspecting it to see if he could escape. Honestly, all he wanted to do was run, escape, and run away, run as far and as fast away as he could.

Sheila was here, who knew how far behind her the Joker was, it was now or never for his escape. He’d have to take Raven, he couldn’t leave her to the clown.

“Come on,” he said hoarsely.

“What?” Raven twisted around to stare at him.

“Come on, Joker’s with Sheila, come on,” he grabbed her wrist and suddenly Raven grabbed his face and he stared down at her.

“Jason,” Raven’s monotone sliced through his fear. “The Joker will not get you.”

“You-you don’t know that,” he shuddered as he felt himself curling in on himself.

“The Joker has to get through me to get to you, and I’m a demon, Queen of Hell,” she reminded him.

“You’re powerless,” he whispered.

“But I’m still a demon,” Raven said softly. Jason shook as he stared at her.

“You can’t promise that, you can’t,” he whispered. Bruce had, and he had died.

“I can,” she said in a firm tone which had him almost believing her. Almost. Jason knew that he was the Joker’s main target more often times than not.

“I,” he started.

“Trust me, Jason,” Raven smiled slightly. “I trust you, so trust me. Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” he managed tightly.

“Good, then, if nothing else, trust me, I’ll be between you and the Joker,” Raven said firmly.

“I don’t, you shouldn’t, no,” Jason shook his head.

“Jason, you have my back, I’ve got yours, so trust me,” Raven repeated.

He stared at her for a long moment before he just sagged against her, there was a harsh strangled sound he didn’t recognize from his lips as arms wrapped around him and a chin came to rest on his shoulder. Slim fingers were sliding through his hair, and while all that felt real, it felt distant.

“She sold me to him,” he whispered for the first time since his resurrection. He whispered the sordid truth that he had kept to himself for years, trying to not let it break him down. But he was broken, he was shattered, and he was tainted, bad even.

“Jason, what happened?” Raven whispered.

“They were going to throw me out, I wanted my mom, she… she sold me to him,” he sobbed. It felt like the dam had shattered as he sagged on Raven and tried to stop it. His death, it was something he’d rather not relieve, think about or remember. But since seeing those blue eyes, and that face, he could only remember that smell. Marlboros, cinnamon and sage. He couldn’t forget that, and it reminded him of that day.

That day as he felt his life being shattered and his body broken, that every time he looked up to his mom, she was standing there. Propped up against a wall, ankles crossed, and she looked at him with so much contempt as she smoked a pack of Marlboros with the Joker’s goons. God, it was like he could feel that pain all over again, that betrayal, that knowing that he was dying.

“You’re fine, you’re safe, she’s not here,” Raven said softly. A part of him wanted to believe her, he needed to believe her. Raven wasn’t like everyone else so far. She hadn’t let him down yet, and Jason wanted to believe that she was never going to let him down. But there was a vicious little voice that reminded him that no one ever saved him, and no one would come for him. People didn’t save people like him.

But Raven wasn’t a person, she was a demon.

“Please, don’t lie to me,” he whispered.

“I don’t lie Jason,” Raven said levelly.

“Bullshit, everyone lies,” he hissed.

“Trust me, Jason,” Raven repeated in a firm tone.

“I don’t…” Jason said softly.

“Take a leap of faith, Jay,” Raven said as she let him sag against her.

He said nothing, he couldn’t say anything. He knew that by saying anything that he could be let down. And if Raven let him down it would break him, and that wasn’t a thought he could really bear after all she had done for him.

“I’m the last line of defense Jay, so trust me,” she repeated softly which had him just collapsing on the bed as his knees gave out, Raven yelped as they fell. Honestly though he just didn’t have the strength to stay up anymore.

* * *

 

Dick sat with Bruce for a long time.

“Remember Felipe Garzonas?” he asked, his voice strained, from the alcohol or his own emotions he didn’t know. But what he was now remembering was what he could have possibly said, possibly done that had driven Jason to seek out **_that_** woman. That vile, disgusting woman who had gotten his baby brother killed.

“Yes,” Bruce’s voice was tight.

“What if… what if we pushed him?” Dick whispered the thought he had had since he realized why Jason; the most distrusting person he knew, had run off to help someone like Sheila.

“What?” Bruce looked at him.

“I called him a killer, B, I told him he was a disgrace to Robin, and he wasn’t my brother,” Dick said softly. He wanted to take this all back, he wanted to take back the last seven years of agony for what had happened; hell, he wanted to take the last ten back to fix things between himself and Jay. Dick should have been better. Not that Jason was the easiest kid, but Dick had been so mad, and angry, there was all this rage he had had, and he had lashed out.

“I benched him,” Bruce said softly.

“What?”

“I… I thought he had killed Garzonas, I benched him. I was thinking of taking Robin from him, letting him just be a student. I thought it might be better for him,” Bruce said softly. “He needed a father, I realized that he didn’t need Batman, just a father.”

“I kind of envied you and Jay,” Dick whispered the foul truth. Bruce had smiled, laughed, taken Jay to ballgames, and days off. Dick had looked in on B and Jay and Goddamn there was that pettiness in him that boiled to the surface when he was a teen. He had remembered how different B was from his Dad and how much he missed his Dad and how B had tried to step up but didn’t do it like he had for Jason.

That petty, prissy, prat part of him at sixteen had envied that, had hated Jason for having that from Bruce when Dick hadn’t been able to have it. Dick and B, they were partners, they had a father-son like bond, but it wasn’t something so strong like Jason’s and Bruce’s had been. And until recently they had sort of been butting heads a lot.

“There was no…” Bruce started.

“There was, I don’t know, you just, you were trying so hard to be his dad and I wanted that,” Dick admitted. “So I didn’t want him here the first time. I wanted him gone, dead in a ditch honestly, I think I even said that to Roy and Wally when you didn’t come to get me from Blüdhaven. I mean, you came, you just, I don’t know…”

“You wanted your independence, I never stopped looking out for you, Dick,” Bruce said tiredly.

“I get that _now_ , but **_then_** , I didn’t. And then I wanted him dead in a ditch, then he was dead, and we buried him, I just… I wished my baby brother dead. Who does that?” Dick whispered.

“You were a child, Dick.”

“A kid who knew better.”

“There are many things we all could have done differently,” Alfred’s clipped tone stated as he walked in. “Dwelling on it will not fix anything.”

“Why did she come back here?” Dick asked. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Jason’s reaction to seeing Sheila was beyond bad, and bordered on a psychotic break. Whatever had happened between Jason and Sheila had to have been truly horrific for that to be Jason’s first reaction to seeing his mother.

Jason, the fearless Robin (not that Damian wasn’t fearless, but damn, Jason could put them to shame. Yeah, Dick knew all about Jason’s head on game of chicken with a machine gun in closed quarters with zero cover. Only the fucking fearless did that; and not even Dick or B would, and Dick was pretty sure that the two of them were pretty fearless.) had literally shook with fear and called out for Bruce. Sheila must have been the stuff of Jason’s nightmares because even though Dick had been with Roy and Lian, he had heard those cries all the way over to his side of the Manor.

“Money,” Bruce stated coldly.

Dick blinked at this but his foster father didn’t care to elaborate as he sipped his brandy. Dick looked down at his own brandy, swirling the contents in the glass as he mulled this over.

“She should have never returned,” Alfred said as he sat and joined them.

Dick got up because he had to move. Moving made thinking easier, and he didn’t want to brood on what should have been and could never be. They had Jason back no, albeit it wasn’t how Dick wanted Jason back, but he’d take what he could get from his baby brother. Jason was back, and Dick wasn’t screwing it up a second time.

“We can’t let him think he’s alone,” Dick stated spinning around to face Alfred and Bruce. Both men blinked at this. “He’s gotta know he’s got us, he… he’s gotta know we’re here.”

Raven had taken the initiative, she had bound Jason here with her, and they had been wasting it. No more, Dick wasn’t wasting this chance anymore. Jason was alive and here, and Jason’s defenses and prickly exterior be damned, he wasn’t losing his baby brother before he got him back.

“Dick’s right,” a new voice said. Dick looked up at Tim who had Cass and Stephanie with him.

Bruce frowned and seemed to be thinking hard about this. Dick didn’t say anything as he started formulating the ‘how’ of this. And it was going to have to be a lot more than Raven playing mediator for them and Jay. Because Raven wouldn’t always be here to play mediator, they’d have to reach Jay without her help at some point.

* * *

 

Roy roused a bit when he heard his door open. Dick had been by with Lian earlier. And Roy would admit that he saw a lot more of Thea in the baby than Jade; which was odd given that Jade was definitely Lian’s mother. He supposed though that the only mother that would matter was the mother who had loved her, and that would have been Thea. However, now Roy roused to see, not Dick like he was expecting, but rather Koriand’r.

“Hello, friend Roy,” she smiled tentatively as she walked towards him with a tray of what looked like broth.

“Hey Star,” he greeted weakly. He felt stronger; not by much but he felt a bit more like his sober self now; at least in mind. In body, he felt like he’d been dragged through the sewage, ran over by a freight train, dropped off a cliff into a dumpster fire only to be creamed by a plane crash. Yup, he felt fantastic.

“It has been a while,” she said as she sat with him. Roy propped himself up weakly but managed to do it without wanting to toss his head in the trash can or toilet.

“A bit,” he agreed.

“You appear to be faring better,” Kori smiled.

“Being a drunk sucks,” Roy huffed out as he closed his eyes. A drunk and an addict; dumbass, his mind whispered unhelpfully. But it was true, and this time around, he knew he was pretty fucking lucky to be alive and he’d be working his program hard.

“Roy, I require a favor,” Kori said.

“I’m not going to be much use to you Star,” Roy sighed tiredly.

“It is not a large favor,” she clarified. Roy felt another weary sigh coming on his lips as his heavy eyes assessed the Tamaranian Princess. He was really wishing it was Raven instead right now, Raven had this calm and quiet about her that Kori did not have.

“What is it?”

“Why did you and Wally hurt Jason?” Kori asked.

“Oh,” he breathed. “Wow, well, um… we were stupid teenagers, he was a kid. He hurt our friend by existing so we kind of let him know we didn’t like him. I don’t think we even knew him.”

Roy rubbed his hand over his face. He remembered when he had first seen this scrawning kid, who was so not Dick in Dick’s colors and he remembered how much he disliked Jason. Just on principle. Looking back on it now though he supposed the kid wasn’t all bad, funny as hell, and sharp a knife, but he was also fearless.

“I do not understand,” Kori said.

“There isn’t anything to get Kori, we were asshole teens and the kid, he was a kid,” Roy said levelly. “I supposed we would have liked him, if we had given the kid a chance. I guess he must be cool though if Rae tolerates him.”

“Would you try to be his friend? I do not think Jason has friends,” Kori said.

“What’s Rae?” Roy croaked. He didn’t want to yell at Kori that him leaping head first into Bat problems would be particularly healthy to his recovery. Bats were just dysfunctional, but compared to the Arrows, the Bats were the Brady Bunch of perfection. Still, Roy didn’t think he could handle Bats. He could barely handle himself and his getting to be sober and about to be dropped at a recovery house.

“Raven is his friend, but I sense he could use more,” Kori said.

Roy groaned as his head fell back. “Star, I’m an addict in recovery; again, I don’t think diving into a friendship with a Bat would be healthy. Particularly one like Jason.”

“Why not?” she asked with such a genuine concern.

“Kori, I’m not healthy,” Roy stated flatly. “I am sick. I need to recover, and I need to stick to my program.”

“Oh,” she blinked.

“Yeah, Jay can’t be that bad, so you try to be his friend. I heard from Dick when we were kids he was better with girls so why don’t you try it,” he offered. Kori seemed to think this over, and Roy waited, he felt like shit, he wanted to be alone, and he wanted the shakes to stop.

“I will try, but you should as well. I believe you two might be good friends,” Kori smiled.

“Kori, one thing at a time,” Roy sighed as his eyes closed. Life was hard enough trying to breath right now, he didn’t want to think about anything past recovering. Thea’s falling body, and her scream still woke him in a cold sweat and he couldn’t look at Lian without that guilt of knowing he wasn’t good enough for her washing over him. He had gotten Thea killed, that was his fault, he should have never called her for help.

“Very well, just think about it,” Kori said as she stood and left him with the broth.

Roy didn’t want to think about it though. He just, couldn’t. Thinking about how he was going to recover from this was nearly impossible as it was. And Ollie, Oh God Ollie Must Hate Him! Roy shut his eyes and squeezed them tight against the tears.

Oliver was like his big brother; and that’s why Roy had fought so much with the older man; he saw that now. But he missed Ollie, he missed Felicity, he missed his home. But he couldn’t go back. He was surprised that the Titans would even let him around again; even knowing he had betrayed them. That was a harrowing realization, he’d betrayed his friends, and they were still letting him come back.

He didn’t deserve them, or any of the kindness they were giving him.

He should die.

The image of a baby with bright blue eyes and dark hair filled his mind as Thea squealed over her.

“I’m Sorry,” he whispered to no one.

* * *

 

Diana had been a part of man’s world since the Great War, but she had only started connecting with it when Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, and Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson had offered her a place to stay when they discovered that she had no home for Christmas. Alright, she would accept that that first invitation had likely been Alfred who had brow beat Bruce into the offer, and she had accepted. Diana had seen no reason not to accept, it was not like she could ever return home, and Steve, Steve was not here. Bruce gave her that photo for Christmas her second year here, Bruce had kindly brought her Steve home again.

So Diana had deduced that not all men were bad, which was why she continued to come to the Wayne home for the holidays.

And the holidays with the Waynes was a lively affair. Bruce’s children were a rambunctious lot, which always amused Diana. Such fierce warriors, all his children, but they all had this sense of wonder about them, and an innocence. It was refreshing.

Which was why, when she and her younger sisters; Cassie and Donna, returned from holiday shopping and the usually lively home was somber now she was alert. Cassie and Donna walked off to train, she promised to join them later before she started looking for the residence of Wayne Manor. She found Dick, Tim, Cass, and Stephanie all together, in the library, clearly in deep conversation, as Alfred was also with them. But she noticed that the family’s patriarch was missing.

This time of day, and the time of year, had Diana walking to the study of her friend. Lightly rapping the door out of courtesy she walked in to find Bruce sitting at his desk, brooding with a sniffer of amber liquid she guessed to be one of those alcohol drinks he was not particularly fond of.

“What is it, you have that line,” she said as she sat, relaxing at not seeing a threat.

Briefly she contemplated calling Clark for this, because Clark was better had these talks with Bruce than her. Besides, it was a long-standing joke between them that Bruce and Clark were an unofficial, official married couple. Lois had started the joke when she and Clark had first gotten engaged and secret identities were blown between herself, Bruce and Clark for Lois.

“Jason’s mother came today,” Bruce answered after they sat in the heavy silence.

“I believe his mother is dead,” she stated firmly. Jason had loved his mother, Catherine a great deal, and when she had pried into the young boy she had learnt a great many sad, bittersweet memories he had of his mother.

“His biological mother,” Bruce clarified.

Diana cocked her head and poured herself a drink. She still had a difficult grasp on all the relations in man’s world.

“And that is bad?” Diana asked. If she had the opportunity to have more of a talk to her mother than just the one chat they had had about her training Cassandra. Donna had come on her mother’s orders, but she had not spoken to her mother.

“I think she sold him to his death,” Bruce whispered.

Diana actually fell back un her seat as she took a deep drink of her own drink. Not tasting it, just feeling the burn.

“And why would a mother do that?” Diana asked softly as she stared at Bruce. Bruce stared at nothing then.

“I should have… She was there, in the rubble, he was holding her, protecting her, and I should have never saved her,” Bruce snarled coldly. “I should have left her to die. Jay died and she lived.”

“Bruce you cannot blame yourself. You did not know,” Diana tried to comfort. However, the words felt hallow even to her ears. She was not sure what she should say about this. She could not even imagine a mother betraying her child, because mothers were supposed to protect, and love, and be mothers. There was a tormented look on Bruce’s face though, which had her trying to think of something to say to Bruce.

“I should have known though! He’s my son! I was there, held his dead body, saved his mother. There is no way he should have been dead. She killed my son!” his voice choked at the last statement.

“Bruce,” she said softly.

“My boy, Diana,” Bruce whispered. “She gave birth to him, gave him to Willis, and Catherine, Catherine tried, she tried to keep him safe, and alive. And Sheila, Sheila sold him to the Joker!” Bruce snarled as he stood up and now paced.

“Her baby, my son, Catherine’s boy! How could she do that!? What mother would do that?” Bruce grounded out as he tore his hands through his hair.

“Do you know this for fact?” Diana asked.

“If you saw him Diana… if you could hear him,” Bruce whispered. “I didn’t know sounds like that could even be made.”

“Bruce, you cannot blame yourself for this,” Diana whispered.

“But I should have!” Bruce said.

“You cannot know everything, and where is Jason, and Raven?” Diana asked. “You should be with Jason.”

“Selina, took him away from Sheila,” Bruce said as he sipped his alcohol.

“You should go to him,” she said softly.

“And say what?” Bruce demanded. “He died because of the Joker. But Sheila got him there!”

Diana took another sip of her drink. But she didn’t know what to say. None of her mothers or sisters would ever betray her or her sisters or their daughters. It was not going to happen; ever. This was not something she understood. Diana did not know what she was supposed to say as she pulled her phone out and texted Clark because she was going to need help. There was no way she could even help with this because she did not know how a mother could ever kill her child.

* * *

 

Garfield looked at the invitation for the annual Wayne Gala. He looked over at Tara and thought this carefully. He never went, he was always declined because he didn’t want to go. But he needed…

Garfield sighed. He needed to talk to Raven.

Stupid as that was he needed to talk to Raven. Raven was always a good at talking things through with him. And he needed to talk this through with someone, Raven was the best person to talk it through with. No offense to Victor, but Raven was better at this relationship thing.

Which was not a great sensation because that meant he’d have to take Tara and he didn’t want to. He wanted… he wanted to escape this. This thing! He didn’t even know what this thing was anymore! This toxic thing with Tara. He didn’t know what to do!

Picking up the phone he dialed to RSVP for it because he had to talk to Raven.

Once that was done he walked around the porch as he dialed Raven’s number then.

“This is Rae, I’m not available, leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible,” her monotone filled his ear.

“Hey Rae,” he started nervously. “I just… I need to talk to you about something. Something big. I just I need to talk to you about things. I miss you Rae.”

He hung up on that and he turned to see Tara staring at him looking at him with large blue eyes. He said nothing as he walked away from her. He couldn’t deal with Tara right now. Gar honestly didn’t know how to handle the possible drama of the fall out of this because he just didn’t know what to do about her. Tara was his dream girl, last year though.

Something had changed though, something wasn’t right between them though. He didn’t know what was wrong, but he knew there was something wrong.

And he didn’t want to deal with it now. He wanted it over.

“Garfield,” she started.

“Not now Tara.” He shouted that as he shifted and ran, because he couldn’t deal with this right now. He couldn’t deal with Tara and her bullshit right now, and it was bullshit.

He didn’t even know what the bullshit right now.

Skidding to a stop of the mountain he shifted back to normal as he screamed. What the hell was his life coming to!?

Standing there he dragged his hands through his hair and he gritted his teeth. Staring down at the valley where his house was he sighed as his head fell back. He missed his friend, and Raven, before Tara had come, had been one of his dearest friends. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had just sat and talked with her, or Victor. He missed his life.

Why had this happened?

What had happened with Tara and him? When had it happened?

* * *

 

Raven winced when there was this iron grip on her which had her cracking her eyes open. Jason was sleeping, finally, not looking peaceful, but sleeping. Which had her squirming out of his grasp carefully. He tensed a bit, and she waited carefully as he settled again and then she darted out of the room.

Shutting the door behind her gently Raven sighed.

“Heyya kid, whatcha doing?” the voice asked which had her leaping as she spun around then pressed a finger to her lips as she slipped around the blonde. Jason didn’t sleep as it was, Raven just wanted a moment to herself.

“Hey, kid,” Harley touched her shoulder which had her jumping.

“Sorry, I just,” Raven started.

“It’s okay, I know what I am, I make people nervous, no need to apologize,” Harley said with a smile.

“I’m a demon, so I am sorry,” Raven clarified quickly. She also didn’t like having her personal space invaded.

“Oh, so that’s real?” Harley chuckled. “No judgin’, I mean, lotsa weird things started poppin’ up, a demon isn’t that big of a deal.”

“Harley, leave Cat’s little bird be,” Ivy appeared with two cups of steaming tea. It smelled like mint tea.

“Awe, come’on Ivy, ya know you wanna know more about this little bird,” Harley grinned.

“Ignore her, she doesn’t know when to stop,” Ivy stated handing Raven the tea. “Selina mentioned you like tea, and you look strung out, could use some relaxing.”

“Thanks?” Raven said uncertainly.

“She likes ya,” Harley whispered conspiritoriously at her.

“Uh-huh,” Raven nodded uncertainly sipping the tea tentatively.

“So you and Cat’s Robin, how long?” Harley demanded.

Raven choked then. “Pardon!?”

“Robin II wasn’t like Robin I, he didn’t have a gaggle of skirts he was chasing,” Ivy clarified.

“Uh… I’m, we’re, huh?” Raven managed; thoroughly confused how friendship had landed her in this situation.

“Oh, okay, so Raven, where ya from, Hell?”

“Azarath, and Hell,” Raven answered as she sat with the woman. A cat purred as it twined around her ankles.

“Really? There’s a hell?” Ivy snorted.

“Oooo! What’s it like!?”

“Hell.”

“An enlightening answer,” Ivy decided.

Raven looked between them and the lovers were leaning into one another, no doubt if she had her empathy she’d sense all the lust. She could sense that even without her empathy.

“Um…you and Ivy? How long?” Raven asked cautiously. Safe topic for couples was themselves.

“Tell ya what kid, you tell us how you met Jaybird and I’ll tell ya all about Ivy and me! Deal!?” Harley thrusted her hand out.

“Sure?” Raven tentatively took it.

“Good, so how’d ya meet the dead Robin?”

“He stole my mind, I wanted it back,” Raven answered blandly. Both the green woman and the blonde’s jaws dropped.

“For real?”

“Yeah,” Raven sipped her tea. “Now, you and Ivy, how long?”

Ivy shut Harley’s jaw for her and Raven hid her amusement in her tea as she looked between the women waiting.

“Let’s see, about ten years, off an’ on,” Harley said. “How’d he steal your mind?”

“Well…” Raven started.


	13. The Worth of a Gem

Rose was set up in her safe house, looking over the Gala invite she had managed to pick off an unassuming old couple. She was going to that Gala.

She had other business other than what she had with Jason, she knew one of her father’s past spies for the Titans dated another billionaire bad boy, the green dude, but she was interested in her father’s pet. Rose eyed the photo she had taken years ago when her father’s goal in life was to destroy the Titans, and eyed the blonde.

The thing with Slade was he never let go of something that could be useful later, she knew that. Slade had a way of getting under people’s skins, and of getting in their heads. The only person her father had never been able to tame, or corrupt was Jason; as far as she knew, and she knew for a fact, Jason scared her father. Now, Jason’s only weakness was his anger, and when his rage got the better of him, opening up the Pit’s influence; Rose knew all about that. Still, her father spoke both highly and cautiously about her fuck boy.

The thought had her snorting.

Her daddy wouldn’t like her fucking the one man he considered a threat. No, no he would not. All the more reason to continue to do it.

Picking up her phone she dialed the secure number.

“Thank god!” he answered.

“Miss me lover boy?” Rose mused coldly.

“Hardly, I miss security, and I miss potato chips,” Hosun snapped.

“Fair enough. If you dress up nice I got a job for you,” she said.

“Dress up? For what?”

“I need a plus one,” she answered as she propped her feet up on her desk and continued to look through the surveillance photos she had of the blonde teen from years ago.

“I don’t think,” he started.

“Good, I’ll send you the ticket,” she cut him off.

“Rose!” he shouted.

“I also need you here because I want to set up surveillance on someone and I am not the girl to do that,” Rose stated.

“Fine,” he sighed. “If I die I’ll kick your ass.”

“In your dreams,” she retorted lighting a cigarette. She just wanted to know what dear ol’ daddy was up to. Rose didn’t like it when she couldn’t figure out what her father was plotting. She liked it even less that she was resorting to all but asking Jason to help her.

Sighing her head fell back as se cracked her neck and yawned.

Now she had to buy a fucking dress. The thought had her shuddering in horror as she sat up, swinging her legs down and standing, she took a drink with her. Looking out at Gotham she took long smoke and released it.

She would kill her father, she’d kill him if it was the last thing she did. But she’d need Jason’s help to get close to her father.

Damnit! She wanted to kill something right now as she glared at this city.

* * *

 

Selina pursed her lips as she sat alone in the library thinking very hard about Sheila, and Jason. She didn’t like the image her mind was forming when there was a light knock on the door. Turning she saw Bruce’s daughter, Cass, there, holding Stephanie’s hand; making it so the blonde couldn’t escape obviously. It softened Selina seeing the girls act like sisters. Helena was lucky, she had all this family here, and it reminded Selina of when Jason hadn’t and how he had run to that woman and his death.

“What is it, girls?” Selina asked closing the book she hadn’t been reading as she un curled from where she sat.

“Dresses,” Cass stated looking uncomfortable then.

“We need to go dress shopping, for the Wayne Gala, we were wondering if you’d like to come,” Stephanie elaborated.

“Of course, we’ll make it a girls day, call Kori, Barbara and the Fox girls,” Selina said with a smile. She would call Harley and Ivy, but she didn’t think her lover’s family was ready just yet to adapt to her family. Her lover’s family was not good with drastic changes; she’d witnessed this in the near thirty years of knowing and loving Bruce. Change was the enemy to the Bats, but she understood why this was; the were a babysteps sort of family for change. Unless they were Dick, but Dick was the anomaly in this family.

“Okay!”

“Have them meet us at the store, I’ll be ready to go in fifteen,” Selina said as she walked out hearing the girls dash off. She should also invite Raven on this girls expedition but she didn’t think the demoness was going anywhere soon. Both Ivy and Harley had texted her saying they were going to adopt Raven and make her a Siren, which had Selina laughing.

“Hey loverboy,” she smiled as she walked in on her lover walking out of the shower, she pulled her shirt over her head as she walked to the closet where some of her things; most of them honestly, were stashed.

“Selina,” he was behind her.

“Jason is fine, and Harley and Ivy are adopting Raven,” Selina announced as she dropped the sweats she’d taken to wearing since having Helena; it was comfy, and started pulling on real clothes.

“You left him with Harleen Quinzel and Pamela Isley?” he strangled out.

She chuckled as she dropped her bra for something better for dress shopping. “There’s no safer place, on the planet, for him. And Raven is with him.”

“And they want to adopt Raven?” Bruce managed.

“They find her charming and adorable, so they’re making her an honorary Siren,” Selina stated. Bruce looked like he’d just swallowed a sour lemon. “So we might actually have an edge on you, watch your back loverboy.”

“Where are you going?” he asked; the turn of topic had her chuckling.

“Dress shopping,” she answered squirming into pants; the elastic waist was her savior at this moment. It’d barely been four weeks since Helena was born.

She felt lucky that she wasn’t suffering from her hormones going nuts, or her mind slipping into a depression, or any of the other nonsense doctors had warned her to be likely because she was a forty year old woman having a baby. She was recovering well, and she was even losing her baby weight. Though she knew she’d never be rid of some of her new curves or some lines marring her skin. But that was alright, they were marks from her daughter and she was actually fond of these imperfections.

“Dress shopping?”

“Uh-huh, with your daughters, Kori, the Fox girls, and maybe Diana because I am going to go ask her and her sisters if they’d like to accompany us.” She was buttoning up her shirt then and hunted up some flats; her feet were finally going normal again, but she was still wearing the flats.

“Really?” he blinked at this.

“Don’t be so surprised, I have done this with them before,” she pointed out. Selina had been drafted by Bruce to help Barbara with her dresses before everything went bad. She had also on occasion gone shopping with Cass and Stephanie. It wasn’t a regular thing, she hadn’t been a part of their family, then, now she guessed she kind of was.

“I just haven’t ever thought about it,” he admitted as he slowly got dressed.

“Well, I’ll see you later, kid,” she stood on her tip toes as she tugged the lobe of his ear with her teeth. “Bye,” she whispered in his ear as she sauntered out.

She could feel his eyes on her ass and she smirked; she still had it. Even dressed as rumpled and tired as she was, she still had it. Helena would be fine for the next few hours, though she wasn’t sure her breasts would be, but it was time she found out. After a brief run in with the Amazon Selina found out that Diana would not be going with them because Cassie’s armor was acting up and Donna was on duty with Roy. Kori however was giddy to come along and assured her that she could get a dress for Raven; knowing the other woman’s size by heart.

Cass and Stephanie were waiting for them at the car.

“I texted Babs, she’ll meet us at the mall, so will Tammy and Tiff,” Stephanie announced.

“Most wonderful! Are these Tammy and Tiff more friends?” Kori asked.

“Yeah,” Stephanie said. They loaded up in the car and Selina started the engine as she booked it to the mall. She was quietly listening to the younger women as they chattered about all the things that mattered when one was young, and she softened. If this was family, it wasn’t so bad. She’d have to drag Jason into it again, because clearly the first time, they hadn’t been enough for him. This time though, her Robin was going to know he was loved.

* * *

 

Oliver stared at the invite for a long time, normally he’d toss the invite away and say he couldn’t go. He’d been saying that for nine years after all. But this time it felt different. He couldn’t explain how it felt different, just that if felt important that he go. Bruce had told him about Roy, and Oliver, Oliver wanted to check in with Bruce again on how Roy was doing. Thea still hadn’t answered her phone and he was getting concerned.

“Hey,” he looked up when his wife walked in. Felicity smiled a bit.

“Hey,” he felt the smile pull at his lips reflexively as he leant back in his seat.

“What’s that?” she asked taking it from him. “Oh, the Wayne Gala,” she chuckled. “We’re going, right?”

“I have never gone before,” he admitted. Before he had been to young to give a fuck, then after Lian Yu it just didn’t seem right. He no more belonged in that world than a monkey in a suit. He wasn’t Ollie Queen, entitled billionaire who the world should bow to. Though in comparison to Bruce Wayne, Ollie hadn’t meant shit, most the world didn’t mean shit to a man as powerful as Bruce Wayne.

“Well we’re going, it’ll be fun, and I want to ask about Roy,” Felicity decided. And that, right there, was why he loved her. She just made it simple, she simplified everything and complicated it a thousand different ways. But Felicity was his girl, and she reminded him to live after everything that had happened on the Island.

“Is that decided?”

“Well, I mean, if it’s alright with you. Not that it shouldn’t just be your choice, this is a marriage and we’re partners but I would never want to make you do something you’re uncomfortable with. Or worse. Oh God, do you not want to go!? I mean why wouldn’t you want to go? It’s Bruce Wayne! He’s so nice, and hot, and he’s a very self-made man, and did I really say hot? Not that you’re not hot, I mean… Abs,” she clamped her hands over her mouth as she turned a vivid shade of scarlet. He felt his mouth quirk a bit as he stood up.

“He’s hot?” he asked her.

“Very,” she blurted out and she looked cursed right then. He kissed her lightly, and considered himself very lucky to have met her that day she ran into him spilling coffee on him.

“We’ll go, and I’ll prove he’s not hot,” Oliver decided.

“He’s getting that nice gray temples,” Felicity remarked and Oliver shook his head. “And I want to ask about Roy.”

“I know, I do too,” he said.

“Then we’re going!” she decided standing with a bright smile.

“So long as my wife quits calling another man hot,” he stated.

“You have abs,” she sighed, and he sighed as she kissed his cheek and walked away. He immediately RSVPed to the event and sat back at his desk. He wanted to talk to Roy, but more than that, he wanted to know where Thea was.

* * *

 

“My source will be at the Wayne Gala,” he said hanging up the phone as he walked to his partners.

“And what good is that going to do us?” Jade sniped as she sat there agitated. The woman had been almost useless since her child had been taken by the Titan.

“Because she has us the in to the Justice League. The Titans have the weakest point of entry to the League’s main frame. You want to take the League down where it hurts, we have to do it from the inside,” Slade stated.

Truthfully Slade had other plans, he had an alternative plan. Prometheus had expended his usefulness. Now it was time to start engineering the way to be rid of him. Slade would not lose his chance at the League of Assassins for this anti-Justice man. No, Slade had the resources.

“You still think the Gem of Scath would the weapon of choice, though you haven’t told us what the Gem is.” Jade stated.

“The Gem of Scath is the only thing to rival the Justice League, you get it, and you’ll be able to down them all,” Slade stated. He’d seen things, seen things Trigon had shown about that pretty little daughter of his.

Raven, lovely, quiet Raven, was the most lethal force living in this plane of existence. And she wouldn’t bow to any whim of anyone. She would be most useful for Slade’s plan to dispose himself of Prometheus. There was an art to this life, a beauty in it’s harshness, and Prometheus sought only it’s destruction. To destroy the League, to destroy the order, and the rules, and while Slade was fine with running against the rules he was not welcoming living lawless.

There were rules which even he would abide by. And while he wanted the League of Assassins, Prometheus had made no moves to help him gain it. Which meant it was time to eliminate him. Slade would use Raven for that, he had a good idea of what the demoness could actually do, having been on the receiving end of her temper when he’d been the messenger for her father. Raven would work out quite nicely if she were threatened; or her friends were.

The demoness had shown her Achilles Heel to him, and he’d be a fool not to exploit it. The morally grey demon could and would get her hands dirty to save her friends. And he was banking on Prometheus wanting to destroy the Bats, and Raven would never stand for that considering her ties to the brat Robins.

Prometheus was about to find out that there were things more dangerous than him, and Slade was looking forward to it.

Now if only he could sway Jade to his cause for the League of Assassins, she’d be a useful asset to him and his cause.

* * *

 

Agitation didn’t even cover how he was feeling as he stood on the rooftop smoking; again. He’d only been here for three days, and in those days he’d suffered two of his worst nightmares. No, neither were his death, because as much as that one sucked and killed his sanity it wasn’t the worst one in his arsenal of regular nightmares; though it was plaguing him as well when he was awake. But when he was awake there was shit to do so he didn’t have to stand there feeling broken.

Taking another inhale of the cigarette, he blew it out as he stared out at the city and tried not to twitch in agitation as he worked on trying to sooth his nerves. Fuck him and his life, he wanted out; he wanted to be as far away from this godforsaken city as he could be all because he knew; less than ten miles away, there was a sociopath who was obsessed with him and Batman and destroying them both. Jason fucking HATED the Joker. The Joker had taken the magic away, and Jason wanted to kill the fucker for that. For taking the only security he’d ever had and just blowing it to hell for the hell of it.

He felt her presence; strange as that was, even without her powers he could feel her, and he didn’t look over at her. He just let out another stream of smoke as he shut his eyes.

“Now isn’t a good time Raven,” he warned her.

“Now is just fine by me,” Raven answered and he opened his eyes to find her sitting at the ledge in his hoodie then.

“I’m no good for you right now,” he warned.

“I’m good at deciding that myself,” she countered.

“Why the fuck won’t you just go away! Fly away little bird, there’s no saving the monster I am,” he snarled.

“Azar above are you in a mood,” she sighed. “I’m not after saving you, asshole,” she stated as she plucked his cigarette from him and flicked it out. “I’m a demon, Jason, not a fucking angel, I don’t save people. However, I can be here for you.”

“You could have fooled me with your being a Titan,” he growled.

“I am protecting what is mine by being a Titan, saving people is part of the job. But I’m not here to save you. Only you can save you, I’m just here to offer support from the hell.”

“I’m a monster,” he grumbled.

“No you are not, Jason. I’ve met monsters, I’ve killed monsters, and I’ve fought them. You’re not a monster,” she said this with such a conviction he looked over at her. “I’m a demon, Jason, I know monsters. I know them very well, and you are not a monster.”

He looked out at Gotham again and he didn’t say anything as the icy air sliced through his bones and tore through his hair as the mist chilled his skin taunt.

“She stood there, she just stood there,” he whispered softly. There was a hand in his, but he didn’t look at her as he felt his fingers slowly curl around hers. “She said I had ruined her life. And if she had had it her way she’d have never had me. She gave me to Willis because Willis had a wife who couldn’t have kids, he’d pay for me. My own dad, he’d pay for me.”

“She’s not a mother, Jason.”

“And you know what mothers are?” he spat. Then flinched when she slid around to look him in the eye. There was a fierce fire in her eyes, which had him knowing he had crossed a line. One of the unspoken boundaries.

“I will not slap you this time, for that remark, because my mom was the most amazing, brave, selfless woman I have ever met, because that’s what moms are. And I know that’s what Cathy was to you, even when she was shooting up,” Raven stated. “And it’s only knowing that, that I don’t smack you right now.

“And Sheila Haywood is not your mom. She is the egg donor to create you, and to think of her as anything more or less is demeaning and cruel. She did not deserve you Jason. And if she was foolish enough to sell you out to the Joker, then guess what? That makes her the monster, not you. You did nothing wrong. And having seen your memories I can say with confidence the woman is an idiot for having betrayed you, because Jason, any woman would be lucky to have you. As a son, a friend, or a brother. So, Sheila is the monster here.” Raven looked determined and he closed his eyes as he took a steadying breath.

“I wanted to help her,” he whispered to the wind. “I wanted to help her, because that’s what Robin does. He helps people. I wanted to prove to Bruce I wasn’t bad, I didn’t kill that diplomat’s bastard kid; even if I didn’t save him, I didn’t kill him.

“And she sold me to the Joker,” he bit his lip as he pulled his hand free to rub his face. Fuck did this hurt, and he didn’t know why, the one topic he never discussed with anyone, he was telling her. Raven didn’t touch him then, but he could feel her there. She was just as real as he was, and even if he wasn’t touching her he could feel her presence and heat, it was comforting.

“She was there, Raven, the whole time, smoking a Marlboro,” he said. “He tortured me for an amount of time I don’t even remember. I just remember the pain, and she stood there, watching me. Watching him beat me, while smoking a Marlboro, and telling me that I ruined her life and I should have never come to her. Even when I was dying I tried to save her.”

“That’s what you do Jason,” Raven said softly.

His eyes flicked to her. “No it’s not.”

“Yes it is, and I don’t care what you believe about the other nightmares or what you feel your past says about you. You’re a fighter, and fighters fight. But you’re also a protector, and protectors protect. You were too good for Sheila, not unworthy or undeserving.” Raven took his hands and he stared at the connection. “She Did Not Deserve YOU, Jason. You deserved a mom who would do anything for you, who would love you unconditionally and protect you because that is what moms do.”

“I…”

“You had Catherine, you speak fondly of her. She was your mom. The mom that counts. You have Zed, and she’s like a mom to you, she worries after you. And Jason, you have Selina. You have people. Sheila’s opinion shouldn’t matter to you because that is the opinion of a cruel and selfish creature. She Did Not Deserve YOU. You Deserve Better. And you have better. Sheila is less than nothing.

“And I’d skin her alive, send her to the depths of Hell and unleash a shit ton of my Empathy on her if I had powers right now, for what she did to you,” Raven declared that crossly.

He blinked and stared at her then slowly, or quickly, he didn’t know which, but he hugged her tight. No one, and he meant no one, had ever said they’d do that for him and hearing it was… startling and empowering. So, he just hugged her.

* * *

 

Raven knew when Jason was overwhelmed; it usually ended up with her being hugged. But right now she just let him have it because he seemed to need it a lot more than she would have thought. She got it, this was what loneliness did to a person. It broke them even when one didn’t break, it drove them down and tore them up. And while she could fix that for him, she could hold him and reassure him; once again, that despite his stubborn belief that his sins prevented him from having people, he had people who loved him. She would tell him everyday if she thought it would help him. But Jason wasn’t a man of words, no, he would never believe words.

But he’d believe actions.

Raven could continue to show him that he wasn’t alone, and that there were people who loved him. She was patient, she could out wait him and show him that he had a lot in life. It was just going to take a lot of work on her part.

“You’re loved Jason,” she assured him. “Sheila isn’t anything for you. She’s nothing.”

“I…”

“I’m frozen, and you’ve been out here for three hours, so we’re going inside the moment you’re ready,” she cut him off before he could say something stupid and have her wanting to scream at him. Jason had that effect on her. She would want to scream at his stubborn head if she thought it would get the message through to him.

“We got cocoa!” Harley shouted.

“Perfect, now we’re going in, come on.” Raven squirmed out of Jason’s grasp.

“Careful, you two might give people the wrong impression,” Harley teased.

“What impression?” Raven asked blandly.

“That you’re lovers,” she rolled her eyes.

“Rats, little bird, we’ve been ousted, perhaps we should elope and be done with it,” Jason decided.

“No way!” she gasped. In Azarath marriage wasn’t like something on Earth, it was a merging of souls, a tying in of magic and life forces. It was sacred, it was no joking matter, and not to be taken lightly. True married pairs on Azarath could survive on empathy links, and the death of one could kill the other. The bonds were deep, lasting, and true. It wasn’t soulmates, no, but a marriage on Azarath was for forever, ‘til death do they part forever. And the ceremony to merge the souls, it was beautiful, powerful, and shattering. No, marriage was no joking matter in her culture, and she’d be damned if the jokes started now.

“I will never elope. And marriage, in my culture is serious, so no jokes about it,” Raven stated firmly.

“Sorry kid, didn’t mean to cross the line,” Harley said.

“Sorry,” Jason said.

“It is alright, but it is no joking matter.”

“Good to know, no more marriage jokes, queen,” Jason promised.

“Thank you.”

“So what about the honeymoon of a not eloping couple; we should go to Aruba, it’s lovely this time of year,” he decided.

“We’re staying in Gotham,” she dismissed.

“Just want to suck the joy out of everything,” he muttered.

“I’m not fun.”

“I’d beg to differ but okay,” he shrugged.

“You never say that to a girl, Jeez! Did Cat teach you nothing!” Harley chided Jason. Raven chuckled at his shocked, baffled look as he followed.

“Uh…”

“Oh, he’s a natural with the ladies, if he were to seriously flirt or chat up a woman, she’d be sunk and doomed,” Raven avowed.

“Really?” Ivy and Jason said when they walked in.

“Oh yes, I’m sure you could play up your natural charms and the women would just be swooning left and right,” Raven stated. She was certain that if Jason actually went about flirting then no one would ever stand a chance against him. Women would be in a fit of vapers, and the men would be envious.

“There’s a sight, never did see a woman swoon for a man. Be real classy if you caught the lady,” Harley decided.

“Uh-huh, and lemme ask you, Queen, would you swoon if I flirted with you?” he mused.

“Hardly, I’m the Queen of Hell, it’ll take more than flirting to have me swooning,” she decided confidently. She was also sure she could resist Jason’s charms. She wasn’t confident in this, because if Jason ever set his mind to it he’d be pretty damn charming, but she was sure she could resist him. At least long enough to escape.

“Damn, and here I was thinking I’d have you swooning at my words and passing my decrees without question,” he mused.

“Oh, so you want to take my Hell responsibilities, they’re all yours,” she dismissed.

“As your advisor I say that is most unwise, I am not fit to be a King of Hell. Giving Hell, yes, King of Hell no.”

“Whoever said that the position of King was available?” she demanded.

“Oh, so I’m to be the Queen of Hell, well that’s a twist,” he decided.

“A good twist,” Ivy piped up.

“I’m for it!”

“Well if women can be Kings, why can’t a guy be a Queen,” he shrugged.

“You’re the best feminist ever,” Ivy decided.

“No, I just get what shit women can do.”

“Face it, he’s a smart man.” Raven decided picking up her cocoa. “He’s got it all figured out.”

“Figured what out?” Harley asked.

“Women rule the world, we men just live in it and think we run the world,” Jason deduced.

“Exactly, and this is why we are friends,” she chuckled.

“I be no fool, my queen,” he mocked.

“Here here, to a wise man,” Ivy cheered.

“Now that I can back,” Harley decided. “I see why you were Cat’s favorite.”

“’Cause I’m adorable.”

“You’re a pain in the ass,” Raven corrected.

“I try,” he shrugged.

“Of course you do,” Raven sighed.

“You know me, little bird, always up for a challenge,” he chuckled.

“Mmm, you’re lucky we’re friends, or I’d blast your ass to another dimension,” she decided.

“You’d miss me.”

“I don’t know, life would be a lot more peaceful.”

“But so much less exciting.”

“Quiet is good, what have you got against quiet?”

“Absolutely nothing at all, sunshine, just that it’s rather dull after a bit.”

“I like quiet.”

“Oh, God, you need excitement. It’s a good thing we’re friends, I know a guy who can hook you up with tons of crazy.”

“No need, I know him.”

“You do?”

“Yes, and rather well I might add. As he’s trying to be a smart ass right now.”

“I’m not a smart ass!”

“Would you prefer your very fine ass is being a pain in the ass?”

“Is this sexual harassment?”

“Depends handsome, got people to report this too?”

“I think my witnesses fall in your favor,” he sighed.

“Are you two always like this?” Harley chuckled.

“He started it,” Raven jabbed her thumb at him.

“I did no such thing!” he mocked outrage. “And do you mean it, I have a ‘fine ass’?” he grinned.

“Perhaps, perhaps not, Dick’s is still better,” Raven deadpanned.

Jason choked on his cocoa then and gasped which had her patting him on the back as she calmly sipped her own cocoa.

She’d be lying if she said she had never noticed Jason’s fine ass, and body, but she was also his friend. And only his friend. She’d ignore his looks to keep a friend. Harley and Ivy were roaring with laughter as Jason tried to catch his breath.


	14. All I Want for Christmas

Bruce decided the best course of action was to get Sheila out of his city, talk to the lawyers about Jason’s resurrection, and complete the forgeries on Raven’s and Victor’s ties.

But that lead Bruce to where he was today, three days without his second son or Raven had him antsy. Bruce wanted Jason here, he wanted his son to feel safe in his home, but apparently that was too much to want with Jason because Sheila Haywood had snatched that away.

He hated that woman with a fiery, cold, passion which almost rival the hatred he felt for the Joker.

Which brought him to where he was today, following Selina, through the streets of Gotham. **Why the _HELL_ ** he was doing this was beyond him. But he had to, as he watched the Cat stalk the blonde curls of Sheila Haywood.

When he saw the knife slip from her sleeve he moved forward. The Cat gasped as he caught her wrist.

“Don’t,” Bruce said as he spun Selina back into his chest.

“You know what she did,” Selina snarled as he held her wrist, she still had the knife.

“Yes, I have a good idea of what she did, Selina.”

“Then why did you stop me!?” she hissed.

“Because there is no coming back from this, Selina,” he growled.

“I’ve killed before!” she hissed.

“Selina, this is different,” Bruce stated coldly. Yes, his lover had killed. No, he didn’t condone what she did. And yes, if he had the evidence then he would go about arresting her, but Selina was smart, almost as good at killing as Talia.

Almost.

The only kill he had on her was of Reginald Payne, the S.A.S. officer that she had shoved from the window. The only problem with that kill, was Selina had done that because she was doing what Selina did when she killed usually, she was protecting him. And until the day he died he wasn’t ever going to ever say a word on that.

“No, it’s not, she killed my Robin,” Selina said this lowly and in a tone which made him think of a tigress.

“And what will doing this, do?” Bruce asked.

“She killed Jason!”

“Did Jason say that!?” Bruce snarled fiercely grabbing her firmly as he shook her slightly. “Did he ever say that explicitly?”

“No,” she sighed.

“And what if you’re wrong about this!?” Bruce asked.

“What if I’m right!?”

“Selina, you can’t kill her.” Bruce looked her right in her brilliant green eyes. “Think about Helena, Me, Jason, Our Family! You do this, it’s all gone!”

“But she took it all already,” Selina whispered.

“Don’t let her take it all again,” Bruce pleaded. “Because you do this, we’re all gone.”

“And what about her?” Selina had tears in her eyes.

“We’ll get her, later,” Bruce promised. Because he would. He wouldn’t fail Jason again, he wouldn’t let Jason feel unsafe again, and he wouldn’t let that woman take his son again.

“And Jason?”

“We focus on him,” Bruce said softly as the knife was in his hand now and he put it in his pocket, pulling her closely into his side as they walked back down the street.

“I Hate Her Bruce.” Selina whispered, her head coming against his shoulder and he could hear the wobble in her voice, the hitch in her breath as she leaned on him.

“I do as well,” he softly agreed with her as he tightened his arm around her. His hand still firmly around the knife.

“You should let me end it,” Selina whispered. “For Jason.”

“Because that’s not ending it, Selina, that’s destroying everything we have, not ending a pain for Jason,” he clarified. Because he believed that.

“But…”

“Selina, we’re not twelve,” he whispered to her hair. “There’s so much more to lose now if you do this.”

There was everything to lose now. He hoped she could see that because she was his family now.

“I don’t want to lose it, but she cannot come after him, or near him, Bruce,” Selina whispered. “She took my Robin.”

“He’s here, he’s back, he needs us,” Bruce said softly. He had to believe that. Jason needed them.

Jason had shouted for him to keep him safe from Sheila, and that had given him the hope he needed. Jason still needed him. Even if it was to keep him safe from that woman in a moment of blinding terror for him.

“Ivy and Harley say he’s good,” Selina whispered.

“Why would you take him there?” Bruce asked. He was genuinely curious why Selina would take Jason to them of all places.

“Because only a moron would go after him at Siren’s headquarters.”

He felt his lips twitch at her honest answer as he just walked with her. It had been a while since it was just him and her, no children or pressing emergencies.

“Are Harley and Ivy really adopting Raven?” he asked; dreading the answer.

“Yes, they are, they’re even going to forge papers to this,” she giggled.

He sighed. That’s the last thing he needed; the Clown Queen, Poison Ivy, and Cat with a demoness in their ranks. Gotham and he might not survive. For now though he would just endure whatever Selina said with a grain of salt because until Raven spoke up he wasn’t saying anything about this.

He didn’t think he really wanted the demoness furious with him if her call to Victor was anything to go by. No one had ever called him out for shit like that; except Selina but that was different, so he was rather impressed with Raven. Not many would have done what she had done. At least, none outside his family would.

“A demon on the Sirens,” Bruce sighed.

Selina snickered weakly. “She will fit with them. Harley and Ivy don’t let just anyone in on the Sirens.”

Bruce shook his head as they got to the car then.

* * *

 

Jason scowled at the apartment, four days of being here and he wanted to run the hell away from all of it. Only problem, he didn’t have another place to go. Well, he did, but he didn’t at the same time. Raven was here also, and she was being exceedingly patient with him.

Especially right now as he stared at the board and looked over the moves he could make. This was proving to be a wee bit more challengingly than he expected. Raven was very good at chess.

“Who the fuck taught you to play!?” Jason sputtered.

“The only person better than the person who taught you,” she responded.

“That doesn’t answer a single fucking question,” he muttered.

“Timothy taught me, it was a good distraction after Garfield and I broke up,” she replied as they both contemplated the board.

“O’ Wee Timmy?” Jason blinked in shock at this information.

“Yes, Tim, now move the damn piece Jason so I can put you in checkmate,” she sighed.

“You are an evil little demon,” he sighed and gave up then and there knowing that he wasn’t going to win. Raven was a bit too good at this game.

“Scrabble?” she asked.

“Now that I’ll win,” he decided. He didn’t get why Raven was playing these games with him, but it was part of why he was stuck here. Not just because he was bound to Raven, but rather because she was too good about keeping him engaged with her games. It was keeping the Pit in check.

* * *

 

Wayne Gala was a hellish nightmare for setting up. Dick was agitated as he sat at the breakfast table thinking these plans over. Jason’s legal resurrection was headache enough, this was also thrown on top of the headaches, which had had him sighing right then.

Jason not being here wasn’t making things easy either.

He reluctantly looked up when Bruce and Tim walked in. They were talking deeply about something and they looked up at him. Bruce had Terry in his arms and Terry smiled, Dick softened.

“Are we sure we want to have Jason have to deal with the Gala on top of… everything else?” Dick asked with a sigh.

“Well, he’s alive now, so he should be… alive,” Tim said dumbly.

“Yeah, but that’s not what I mean,” he yawned. “Jason was never good with people to begin with so why should we be pushing this with him? What if… what if this just drives him farther away?”

“Well, Rae said to include him,” Tim defended.

“In small things, slowly! This is neither small nor slow,” Dick countered.

“Boys!” Bruce growled.

“Jason’s family! We need to act like it!” Tim shouted. “We can’t just do whatever Dick Grayson wants for family because that means nothing most the time! The World Doesn’t Revolve Around Dick Grayson!”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Dick roared. Everything with Tim was topsy-turvy and had been since Damian had arrived, now Jason was here and they needed to focus on Jason. This wasn’t focusing on Jason!

“BOYS!” Bruce roared and both he and Tim turned on Bruce then.

“The Gala is annual, Jason is alive, IF he comes, he comes, if he chooses to go or read that is his choice,” Bruce grounded that out as if he had his teeth pulled with each word. And each word had Dick shrinking a little bit.

“And what if this sends him running?” Dick countered.

“Rae will be there, and he likes Rae’s company, he’ll be there!” Tim snapped.

Dick just sighed. He didn’t think Tim understood just how volatile Jason really was, even without the Pit. Before his death Jason had hated these parties. Now, not only were they kind of forcing themselves on Jason but they were expecting Jason to go with it. Dick could only see this blowing up in their faces.

However, he also saw he wasn’t going to win this fight as he stood up and decided retreat was the best course of action. Dick didn’t want them to lose Jason, and he just didn’t think Tim and Bruce were thinking clearly about this either.

He found himself walking into Roy’s room then.

“Hey Roy,” Dick grinned seeing his friend awake and shivering as he sat against the window.

“Hey,” Roy greeted.

“All alone I see,” Dick observed.

“Yeah, the Amazon chick is taking care of Lian for the moment,” Roy muttered. Roy lifted a brow when he sat and gave him a bland look. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar, come on, gimme something to distract me from this misery,” Roy sighed. Dick snorted and stared out the window to.

“I think we’re pushing Jason too far, too quickly,” Dick whispered. “And I don’t know how to make B and Tim see that.”

“Well did you ever stop to think you’re not reaching out,” Roy asked. Dick’s head snapped up and Roy sighed. “You like to save everyone, Dick, I get it, I get why you do it too. You’re the world’s big brother. But Jay’s different, he always was.”

“Roy, we’re not…”

“Shut up. I’m not done, and since I’m partially on my way to sobriety again I’ll do the talking. You know, first time around, in the program, I took a day at his grave to apologize; Dick. Apologize, for everything we did to hurt him because we were stupid kids. I made my amends with him, and now I’ll do it again now that he’s alive. Because he deserves to hear it. We were assholes to him.

“Now he’s back and you don’t know what to do with him because there’s no way that man is anything like the scrawny kid we’d pick on,” Roy said.

“It’s not…”

“It is.”

“Roy,” Dick sighed.

“I know it is because I have gone through it Dick, with Ollie,” Roy sniffled and wiped his nose. “You’re going to have to suck it up and see he’s not the kid, he’s not who he was, he is different now.”

Dick said nothing to that as he stared out the window. Jason was Jason. Always had been. And he still didn’t think this was a good idea for then and getting Jason back. If only they’d see that.

“When do I go to the rehab place?” Roy asked, tugging his blanket tighter around him.

“After New Years, sorry buddy, I couldn’t get you in sooner. Even dropping Roy Harper’s name, and my own. Everywhere is pretty full, at least everywhere close.”

“Does Ollie know?”

“I don’t know, I just… shit Roy I’m sorry, I don’t know what Oliver knows.”

“I got Thea killed,” Roy muttered. Dick didn’t have anything to say to that as he stared out the window again. Roy was going to be a real wreck when Thea’s death really sunk in. What Dick didn’t get was why it wasn’t all over the news yet. Thea Queen dying would be front page news.

That thought had him frowning. He didn’t leave Roy as the wheels in his head turned at this thought. There was something at play here, something in their blind spots they couldn’t see because they weren’t looking for it. When Roy was asleep Dick would go to the Cave for a bit and dig in that angle. There was something here they weren’t seeing. Something other than Roy’s betrayal of the Titans because there was no Thea Queen’s death being announced. Dick’s mind wandered to why someone would keep a dead body then.

* * *

 

Jason shifted a bit uncomfortably on the couch, Raven had fallen asleep an hour ago and he didn’t think moving was wise as there was a cat on his lap, and a dog under his feet; not to mention the plant behind him. Else he’d have moved her thirty minutes ago when her head had started giving him a case of dead arm making it difficult to read his damn book.

“I see the little bird tuckered herself all out,” Harley appeared after having been out most the day. Her girlfriend nowhere to be seen yet.

“Uh…” Jason blinked when Harley touched Raven’s hair a bit.

“Hey, look kid, I ain’t gonna hurt you; right now. I’m not workin’, so why don’t ya relax. I’m just checking up on this pretty bird because she seems to be running ragged,” Harley said.

“I’m annoying her,” Jason deduced.

“Oh, I doubt Rae’s the kind of girl to hang around boys who annoy her,” Harley chuckled. “Here, lemme,” Harley carefully maneuvered Raven and Jason took the opportunity to slip the cat and the dog and the couch as he perched himself in the chair.

“There, that’s more comfy! Tea?” the blonde asked with a massive grin.

“It’s not poisoned is it?” Jason asked seriously.

“If I had a death wish kid, I’d kill ya then have Cat come barreling up my ass. Your death really did a number on her the first time around, I don’t want to see that again.”

“I didn’t think anyone cared,” he muttered.

“Are ya kiddin’!? Your death damn near broke the Bat and the Cat and the city up,” Harley stated.

He just blinked.

* * *

 

Tim had to admit he was kind of impressed with this system of information that Rose Wilson had provided him with, it was like a gold mine! Only better because all of this information on EVERYTHING with Deathstroke was just wonderful.

There was a noise behind him which had him swiveling around from his station to glare at the offender, only to see Dick there.

“What do you want?” Tim spat. Alright, so part of his problem wasn’t that Dick was trying to keep Jason from the Gala. But rather that Dick was so engrossed in doing things his way (again) he wasn’t factoring in that this might be hurting their chances with Jason instead of helping them win Jason back.

Dick would get so wrapped up in doing everything the ‘right’ (his) way that he (like B) would forget that there was other ways to get to the desired goal. Like how there was a different solution for Damian's becoming Robin other than taking it all from Tim. And yes, that was still a bitter wound that he had because Dick took everything that was his when he had needed it most and handed it off to Damian! But that was a different problem.

The goal here was to have Jason home again.

And excluding Jason because of who he had been when he was a child wasn’t going to help them! Jason should be at the Gala, he should be with the family. Jason should be able to hang out with them, to feel that he could, not that he needed to hide away in the Manor or that he had to be secretive about his ENTIRE life. Tim wanted his big brother home just as badly as B and Dick did, and as badly as Damian did, but Tim also saw them dancing around Jason like they were on eggshells was going to do more damage than help.

“Hey,” Dick started.

“I’m busy,” Tim snapped.

“Hey, Timmy, I’m not here to fight,” Dick sighed.

“Oh, aren’t you, seems all you ever want to do with us is fight us. Fight us on how to help Jason come home, how to be Robin, how to work on the Titans, how to be a brother!” he hissed.

“Tim,” he groaned.

“Did you ever think that acting like Jason was a rabid dog likely to bite at a moment’s notice is why he doesn’t want to be around us!? Because you do!” Tim shouted that last part. “You act like he was the boy you knew, and yeah, he’s dangerous. But he’s our brother! You forced me to accept Damian as my brother, now I’m telling you that Jason’s our brother!”

“Tim, I’ve never argued that,” Dick started.

“Then what’s your plan for Jason when Raven’s not here. What if Raven dies and we never see Jay again because we never bonded with him!” Tim argued. “You always want to do it your way, you forget that it isn’t about your, this is about Jason! And Jason needs us to be his family, and families do things together! Or did you forget that in your quest to appease the demon spawn! I’m your brother too! I’m here and I have ideas and thoughts for dealing with Jason and you don’t want to listen to them anymore because you are insisting that your way is the only way!”

“Timmy!” Dick shouted. “I Have Never Not Listened To You! Or Jason!”

“Then Why Aren’t You Listening Now!?” Tim demanded.

“Because if we don’t slow down, and if we continue to rush Jason he’ll bolt! That’s what he does! That’s what he’s always done! Especially when people shove their way into his life and B and I fucked up last time!”

“No, you screwed up.” Tim stated that coldly as he grabbed Rose’s USB of information and left the Cave.

He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted to call up Kon and bitch about families because Kon was a fast friend he had formed quickly in these last months.

However, Tim did none of that as he took a steadying breath and pulled out his computer for cases and sat on the bed. Popping in the USB again he got to work as he continued his data mining.

‘Gem of Scath can be acquired’

Tim frowned at that as he continued his digging.

Raven was the Gem of Scath, it wasn’t a secret, but in all the context he was reading it was like Raven wasn’t what they were after. It was like they thought the Gem and Raven weren’t one in the same and they could just take the Gem. Which confused Tim as he frowned and looked over at the other screen before typing. There was something to this, something in this information that Rose had given them which would be the key.

What Tim didn’t get, as he read over the transcripts (opting to listen to the recordings later), was why Slade was talking about the Gem like it was a thing. Slade knew Raven was the Gem. So why was he talking like Raven and the Gem weren’t the same thing?

It was beginning to worry Tim as he rapidly started in on his digging and set of algorithms to find answers more quickly. He quickly concluded Rose hadn’t been lying about the team being three members only. Slade, Jade Nguyen, and an unknown male. The unknown male scared Tim though, just in reading the transcripts. The unknown man was the real threat for whatever was coming, but as he had no information on the unknown man he started setting up searches for this man. Tim would keep his family safe, he would get this man. This man was fixating on one of Tim’s best friends, he didn’t like it.

* * *

 

“And the plan?” she asked hefting up her bag as they walked out of the airport into the Gotham slush.

“Get the Gem,” Slade answered.

“Are you sure it will work?” she asked coldly.

“Yes.” He was sure that if Raven was cornered that she would eliminate the target. Raven wasn’t like the rest of the Titans, Slade remembered that little girl and all that power. That quiet young woman was no doubt more powerful now, and she could be exploited. Raven was a loyal creature.

“And when will he join us?”

“He’ll be joining us at the Gala.”

“Isn’t it risky walking into the Gala? What if they are searching for us?”

“The Bats wish to maintain their cover, there will be no bloodshed.” That he believed, because people like Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen who had something to lose if their alternate identities came to light had reasons for remaining quiet. The only unknown was their partner, who would be meeting them at the Gala. Slade’s calculations for that night had everything included, what he didn’t know was how their partner would enter the fray.

“And they’re going to just let us walk in?” Jade snorted.

“No, but they won’t know we’re there until we say we’re there,” he was confident about that as he had been evading Bruce since the explosion at their last meeting. Bruce probably still wanted his head for trying to take Damian's head.

* * *

 

Six days of being with Harley and Ivy, Jason had felt himself relaxing, especially when they weren’t acting like a threat towards him or Raven.

No, they were quiet taken with Raven actually; which was something he was ignoring because he had data to sift through.

“Oh wow! That’s a lot for a girl to go through, you poor thing. Well, no one is ever hurting our Rae ever again,” Harley decided.

“Our Rae?” Raven and Ivy asked in unison.

“Of course, Right Ivy!”

“Jason, are all Gotham Rogues this weird?” Raven asked him solemnly as Ivy and Harley were arguing playfully.

“Uh… no, mostly they’re ruthless killers,” Jason answered honestly. But that image was destroyed at the moment with Harley in her big curlers, purple fuzzy slippers and mini shorts with ‘Bite Me’ written across her ass. Also, Ivy sitting there dressed in a silk, lingerie night gown; red.

“Gotham is so damn weird,” Raven decided.

“Not disagreeing love, but it’s Gotham,” Jason shrugged. So long as the Joker didn’t break out he could handle this. Harley and Ivy weren’t so bad, and he liked Cat. Riddler, Penguin, Two-Face, they were all manageable. So long as the Clown wasn’t here he was okay.

“All you need now is a satanic cult or something,” Raven mused.

“There’s probably a few of them somewhere in this city,” he admitted.

“That’s just disturbing.”

“Does  Lucifer know he has cult followers?”

“He does, and I believe he rejects them. Especially when they give him chicken sacrifices.”

“What?”

“Grounds of salmonella is what I was told.” She sipped her tea and he burst into laughter at her serious monotone and that answer.

* * *

 

December twentieth, a week since she had been dragged off of Wayne Manor with Jason Todd and dropped off at Harley Quinn’s and Pamela Isley’s. Now she was sitting at the kitchen table, stretched out listening to Pam and Harley chat while Jason was perched at their counter reading over something he was working on. For the most part Jason got along with Harley and Ivy, but they ignored each other for the most part.

“So, Raven, any plans for ya future!?” Harley piped up startling Raven out of her book; a good thriller, _The Spy Who Came from Cold_. She jolted as she stared over at Harley who was grinning sharkishly setting the tea before her.

“Huh?” she managed.

“Well, you can’t do the hero thing all the time,” Harley said. “So, what are your plans?”

“Uh…” Raven looked between Harley, Ivy and Jason, Jason shrugged unhelpfully as he continued reading his file. “Well you’re useless.”

“You’re the Queen of Hell, I thought you’d have future plans.” Jason didn’t look up from his file, and Raven sighed.

“At this moment, no plans,” Raven said to Harley.

“So, school, job, civilian life? Nothing,” Harley persisted.

“Until a stupid Bat interrupted my life I had no civilian identity,” Raven stated glaring at Jason.

“Really?”

“I’m from a different dimension, and had no reason to be a civilian,” Raven defended.

“Well you need to think about these things, because trust us; this life will out grow you,” Ivy said. “Unless you’re an idiot Bat.”

“Uh…”

“Oh, don’t worry sweetie, you got Mommy Harley and Mama Ivy here,” Harley grinned.

“You better not be corrupting the demon,” Jason warned.

“Corrupting the demon! I would never!” Harley mocked.

“I’m here!” Selina called out as she appeared. Raven just about shouted for joy at seeing Cat then. Selina sauntered into the apartment with Helena in her arms.

“Thank Azar!” Raven shouted as she took a sip of tea.

“Harley, leave the little bird alone,” Selina said dropping her bag on the table.

“Awe! But I like the little bird!” Harley announced with a whine.

“We’re adopting her,” Ivy decided.

“We’re what?” Raven spun on the women.

“Yup, it’s official kid, you’re a Siren,” Harley grinned.

“Oh fuck,” Jason managed looking up from his coffee and file.

“Well that was faster than I expected,” Selina said.

“You knew!?” Jason sputtered.

“Well, your darling little bird is irresistible.”

“I’m Not His!” “She’s Not Mine!” Jason and Raven shouted in unison.

“Still you’re officially ours,” Harley announced.

“Oy vey,” Raven’s head fell to the table as she sighed.

“Have Batsy draw up the papers, Cat, Rae’s ours!” Harley announced.

“Yours!?” Raven’s head snapped up.

“I always wanted a daughter.” Ivy decided.

“Wait a minute!” Jason started.

“Anyways, you two, get dressed, get your stuff, the Gala is tomorrow and we’re going to dress up the little bird all prettily dressed for the Gala tomorrow,” Selina decided.

“Wait, what Gala?” Raven looked between Selina, Ivy, and Harley.

“The annual Wayne Gala,” Selina and Harly spoke up.

“Why do I have to go!?” Raven sputtered.

“Because I said so,” Selina announced.

“HA!” Jason shouted gleefully. Raven glared at him.

“And why doesn’t he have to go?” Raven asked accusingly.

“Jason’s going, this is also a celebration of Jason’s official resurrection!” Selina announced.

“What?” Jason spoke up.

“You’re going, Jason, since you’re alive again, you’re going,” Selina said this sharply.

“Ha!” Raven shouted gleefully.

“I hate being alive again,” Jason scowled.

Raven stuck her tongue out at him as she sat there now smug about this. Jason glared at her as he flipped her the bird.

“So how was the week, Harl, and Ivy?”

“Your Robin and our new daughter are darling company,” Ivy announced.

“You don’t even like people!” Jason shouted.

“I have exceptions,” Ivy shrugged daintily.

“Hey, Cat, we going to the party!?” Harley asked enthusiastically.

“After the last time you two went to a party with B, mind controlling him, and going on a shopping spree with him, no,” Cat stated.

“That was years ago!”

“Exactly. Now, get your things, we’re going.” Selina said this casually as she sat at the table.

“I don’t remember her being this bossy the first time around,” Jason muttered.

“I don’t remember being adopted by anyone other than Victor,” Raven countered. Walking with him down the hall to the room they had been sharing she picked up her clothes as he threw his go bag back together.

Raven sat on the bed as she looked over the books herself and started counting them off.

“I don’t want to go to the party,” Jason muttered.

“I didn’t even know that I was going to a party,” Raven stated.

“Welcome to the Waynes.”

“Ah-ha! So you admit you’re a Wayne!”

“I did no such thing!”

Raven shook her head, it had been a long week for the both of them. Jason had relaxed though, he hadn’t lost his temper or composure, he hadn’t even snapped. True he had had an increase of nightmares, but he was alright. Jason was going to be alright, she knew that he was, maybe not now, but he would be.

Picking up her bag she walked out with Jason, pulling her coat tight around her.

Selina, Harley, and Ivy were cooing over Helena when she walked out with Jason right behind her. Selina smiled and softened walking over to the door.

“Thanks you guys, and I’ll talk to B about the adoption papers,” Selina said as they walked out.

“They weren’t serious, were they?” Raven sputtered.

“Dead serious.”

“And what are they going to be on me!? Moms!?” Raven demanded.

“Oh, Rae, welcome to the family,” Selina chuckled.

“This is your fault,” she accused Jason.

“Hey, don’t look at me, I was all for running away to Hawaii for these godforsaken holidays,” he defended.

Raven rolled her eyes as she dropped her bag in the trunk and sat in the car. Smiling as she looked down at Helena with her big blue eyes.


	15. Girl Time! No Boys Allowed!

The moment Jason heard his door thrown open after having finally getting to sleep was the moment he knew his life was fucked. Rolling over, he managed to evade the cannonballing body where he had been sleeping. Cracking his eyes open he found himself looking at Damian, with Tim leaping for the bed then.

“Up and at up ‘em Jaybird!” Dick shouted behind the other two morons as Tim landed on him. Jason grunted at the impact.

“Go to Hell!” he grumbled shoving Tim off of him as he yanked the covers over his head.

“Aw! Don’t be like that, Jay!” Tim protested shaking his shoulder furiously. Jason winced at the motion before sitting up.

“What?” he growled furiously as he rubbed his face over.

“Well, the girls are getting ready for tonight which means guys day until we have to get ready,” Dick announced. Jason glared at Dick.

“And what’s the sudden interest in hanging out with me?” Jason growled at Dick. He didn’t have the patience for whatever was going with Dick, he barely had patience for dealing with himself this morning.

“Actually, I was going to hang out with you, then the demon spawn and Dick decided to join,” Tim said as he glared at Dick. Jason just sighed; fan-fucking-tastic, Bat drama.

“No,” Jason grabbed his blanket and rolled over.

“We have Deadpool.” Damian stated.

“So?”

“So you’re watching it with us,” Damian and Tim announced in unison.

He groaned. FUCK IT, Deadpool beat the company any day of the week.

* * *

 

Arriving at the Manor yesterday apparently didn’t save Raven from this morning when her curtains were thrown open and someone was launched into her bed. She grunted at the contracted and grabbed a pillow to hide from her attackers as she tried to fall back to sleep.

“Friend Raven! You must wake! It is a glorious morning and we must prepare you for the Gala!” Kori announced. There was some prodding in her ribs.

“No,” Raven mumbled into the pillow.

“You must, friend Raven,” Kori encouraged.

“Yes, must,” a firm voice from atop her announced with more prodding. Raven cracked her eye at the offender, it was Cassandra, which had Raven glaring. She had never really deal with Cassandra, only meeting her a few times.

“I don’t wanna,” Raven slurred and pulled her pillow back over her head.

“Raven!” Kori yanked her up, she yelped at the cold as she found herself eye to eye with a flying, fiery Kori. “Do not tempt me to toss you outside Raven.”

“You wouldn’t.” Raven glared sleepily at her friend.

“I would. Now up, friend Raven, and to the shower, or it will be ice.” Kori warned her which had Raven scowling as she was dropped to the bed by Cass.

“Up! Up! Up!” Cass shoved her off the bed, Raven stumbled to her feet as she staggered a bit.

“Are you always this bossy?” Raven yawned.

“Up!” Cass barked the order again and Raven reluctantly found herself walking for her shower.

A few minutes in the steamy warmth of the shower, Raven dragged her hands through her hair as she washed the dark mass. She just breathed as she let herself wake up while scrubbing up and cleaning up for the morning. It was when a hand reached in and shut off her water, a towel was shoved at her that she knew today; whatever she had do say or think about trying to get out of the Gala was about to be over ridden.

Sighing she took the towel as she stepped out of the warm shower to shiver at the cold of the bathroom.

“Come along Raven, we must get ready,” Kori announced. Cass threw a robe at her, which Raven tugged on as she walked with Kori and Cass.

“Why am I going to the Gala? I don’t even have a dress,” Raven yawned.

“Yes you do,” Cass smiled. Raven arched a brow at Cass as she was walked into the room.

“Finally! Raven you’re here!” Stephanie shouted.

“They have been eagerly awaiting your arrival,” Selina said, sauntering in with Helena in her arms, Donna appeared with Lian too. Raven yawned.

“I don’t see why I’m going to the Gala,” she admitted as she stretched.

“You’re going to the Gala as well?” Diana appeared.

“Great,” Cassie rolled her eyes.

“Now, the dresses!” Kori announced as she pulled them out. Raven blinked a few times seeing a dress in her size as Kori handed it to her. Raven looked at the bag and she hung it up as she unzipped the bag.

“First, hair,” Barbara announced rolling in.

“What?” Raven spun away from her dress not having a chance to look at it.

“Yeah! There’s a whole check list here, little bird,” Selina chuckled.

Raven just stared owlishly at Selina. “There’s a what now?”

“Hair, makeup, nails, under garments, dresses, jewelry, and shoes,” Selina stated calmly. “I see you have multiple ear piercings, I got earrings for those.”

“Uh…”

“I’m counting six holes here,” Selina murmured as she turned Raven’s head to the other side. “Five here. Any others?”

“No,” she admitted.

“You better not be lying little bird,” Selina warned her.

“I had a nose piercing when I was sixteen, I don’t have it anymore.” She admitted. The ill advised nose stud had vanished as quickly as she had gotten it.

“Hmm…” Selina hummed.

Kori giggled. “It was a horrid fashion statement.”

“You and Dick have no room to talk,” Raven warned her friend seriously.

“Alright, so the hair,” Stephanie announced.

“Yes the hair!” Cass bounced.

“What the hell am I even doing here?” Raven muttered.

“It’ll be fun, I have heard that the Wayne parties are the most amusing of the man’s worlds parties,” Donna announced to her.

“I’m an empath, I don’t do parties,” Raven sighed.

“You’re doing this one, little bird,” Selina stated.

“Come on,” Babs barked and Raven jumped as she scurried after them. She didn’t want the wrath of the flock on her. Selina sat her down then and pulled out a brush.

* * *

 

Jason yawned as he walked with Tim down the hall.

“Hey, Jay,” the teen started.

“Whatever it is, I’m not apart of it,” he stated. Shoving his hands in his pockets he wondered if there was a way to get out of the Gala.

“Ah, Master Jason, I have taken the liberty of fitting you for a tux, you look to be about your father’s six, perhaps a few inches shorter. I’ve hung it in your room, along with new cufflinks,” Alfred announced appearing from nowhere.

Jason jumped as he twisted around to see the old butler.

“Thanks Alfred!” Tim grinned.

“I am not going to this Gala.”

“Yes, you are,” Tim grinned. Jason frowned.

“I’m not going!”

“Raven’s going, and she’ll drag you with her even if you don’t want to go,” Tim warned.

“Why is Raven going?” he yawned as he scratched his head.

“Because, Master Jason, she is invited as Master Timothy’s and Master Dick’s friend,” Alfred stated.

“That’s cheating,” he muttered sourly. If Raven was going there was no way he was getting out of this, she’d drag him there herself if she had to go. Jason knew Raven well enough to know that.

“Also, Dr. Thompkins will be around later today to remove your cast,” Alfred said.

Jason blinked as he looked at his casted arm and sighed. There would be no winning today. None, he knew he wasn’t going to get out of this Gala.

* * *

 

Raven sat very still as Selina finished her hair. The heavy black mass was now in an elegant display of curls that was cascading down her back.

“You have such lovely hair,” Selina mused.

“It’s purple,” Stephanie observed. “Well, it’s black, but it’s so pretty with those purple undertones,” Stephanie giggled. Her own blonde mass being pulled up by Cass who smiled.

“Thank you?” Raven said uncertainly.

“Do you think Dick will like the hair?” Kori asked.

“Please,” Barbara rolled her eyes.

“There will be no drama today!” Selina snapped.

“Such lovely hair,” Diana mused. “But we shall be getting along today,” Diana announced.

“Now for makeup!” Stephanie said. “Dibs on Cass!”

“Oh, I’ll do Raven!” Kori shouted eagerly. Her fiery mass bouncing as she came over.

“Wait! No! What!?” Raven protested but she was finding her opinions for the day were drowned out.

“I’m thinking light make up, red lips, and highlight her eyes,” Selina mused.

“Agreed.”

“You want to do what!?” Raven felt her eye twitch then. She had gone through a make up phase when she had been fourteen, full goth. And since she was sixteen, soon after her break up with Garfield she had stopped wearing makeup in general.

“Yes, agreed,” Kori grinned.

“She’s going to look beautiful,” Donna decided.

“Why are we focusing on me?” Raven lifted her brow.

“Because aside from Donna we have prettied up everyone here before, and we wanna see you all prettied up!” Stephanie giggled then.

“Uh-huh,” Raven grunted skeptically.

“No seriously, we’ve seen everyone here prettied up,” Stephanie solemnly informed her.

“And why am I going to the Gala again?”

“Because we said so,” Selina answered.

Raven just sighed and resigned herself to the knowledge that she wasn’t going to escape this until the party was done and over.

“So Raven,” Diana started. “Are you staying on the Titans or are you planning to apply to the League?”

“Well, actually, after what Roy did for the JL and CIA I’m not to keen on joining the League,” Raven admitted as Kori started testing out makeup colors on her.

“I see, but you cannot intend to stay on the Titans for forever,” Diana pointed out.

“Perhaps after the Titans I retire, live a quiet life,” Raven suggested with a shrugged.

“No moving, I do not wish to smudge. And you cannot give up Raven, you have magic,” Kori stated.

“Real magic or the demon stuff?” Cassie snorted.

“Both,” Raven answered. Raven’s full arsenal of magic and abilities was something of a she had to be careful with, blackout or no. And her human magic was powerfully unpredictable. She didn’t want to deal with the fall out of misusing her powers. And working for the Justice League without them misusing her powers and abilities.

“So you aren’t going to move up to the League?” Selina chuckled.

“I will worry about this, if and when that moment should ever come. The League doesn’t need a creature of my abilities when you have Fate and Zatanna,” Raven stated coldly. The kind of power Raven had wasn’t something people should toy with or attempt to use. There was a reason she never used her arsenal.

“Well, little bird, when you get to the point of thinking about your future you know who you can talk to,” Selina smiled.

Raven didn’t respond because Kori had settled on the colors she was going to use and was giving Raven a warning look. It had started, and she wasn’t moving.

“She’ll come to the League, we can always use a power like hers,” Diana said.

“The Sirens already adopted her, sorry, we’re claiming the little bird,” Selina chuckled.

Raven opened her mouth only for Kori to shut her jaw.

“No. Talking. Hold still,” Kori warned firmly.

“You can’t adopt her, she’s an adult,” Stephanie pointed out.

“Family is family,” Donna answered as she worked on Cassie’s makeup.

Well, in that case, Raven had only one resounding thought about her family: They. Were. Fucked. Trigon’s spawn, and Trigon himself, and if that was family for her, then that was damning. For her at least. Family was problematic if she had to accept her blood family for herself. Victor was more of family to her than the Trigon’s spawn and Trigon.

“Family is always complicated,” Diana decided.

“That is very true,” Selina agreed. “Here,” she handed mascara to Kori and Raven sighed.

“Thank you,” Kori took the mascara then.

* * *

 

Tim grinned as he sat with Jason on the chair as Deadpool started. Jason had willingly come to sit with him for a movie, after an hour for breakfast that is. The girls weren’t anywhere to be seen as they were getting ready.

Damian hadn’t even tried to kill him today as he grinned happily.

“Get away from me!” Damian screeched leaping into the room for the couch. There was a delighted squeal behind him which had him wincing a bit as Terry and Titus appeared which had Tim snickering.

“JAY!” Terry squealed.

“What is it duck?” Jason sighed as Terry trotted up to their second brother.

“Why is it that he likes you more?” Dick asked as Jason hoisted Terry up to his lap and settled back down again.

“Because Jason’s the best brother,” Tim spat at Dick. Dick flinched at that.

“Whatever the bloody fight is here keep it to yourselves, I got enough fucking issues,” Jason snarled coldly.

“I…” Dick started.

“Shut the fuck up, I don’t give a shit, I’m only here for Deadpool,” Jason snapped as Damian joined him on the couch. Terry was happily played with Jason’s hand. Tim grinned as Dick surrendered to sitting in his own chair and just watching the movie.

This wasn’t all that bad. Damian wasn’t trying to kill him, Jason wasn’t trying to kill them, and Dick wasn’t in charge. Terry gnawed on Jason’s fingers.

Tim looked down when his phone buzzed. From the troglodyte.

_-Operation on tonight._

Alright, so this was going to be a clusterfuck as he lifted his brows at Damian.

* * *

 

After what felt like hours of perfecting, redoing, rejecting, re-perfecting makeup to give her an ‘all natural’ look Raven found herself finished up and famished.

“Lunch ladies,” Alfred knocked on the door and Raven scrambled up.

“You are not to smudge that make up!” Selina called after her from where she was working on Stephanie.

“I promise not to smudge!” Raven shouted back.

“So, Raven,” Donna appeared beside her, the Amazon sweeping her hair back from her face. “Where’s the ruby?”

“What ruby?”

“The one always on your brow,” Donna clarified.

“As I am human it is not showing. The Gem, is a part of my powers and channeling them. When I am growing I am without it because it is on a different plane channeling my magic,” Raven clarified. It was all so very confusing, and very maddening, but it was for the best if it wasn’t here. The Gem was a harness for her power, when she was growing though, it was safely tucked away, elsewhere, when it was ripped from her it was like she had lost half of herself, and when she separated from it; well she hadn’t tried that. Yet.

“Here you are ladies,” Alfred said as he let Raven take the food cart away from him.

“Thank you, Alfred!” she called after him as he left them.

“You are very welcome Miss Roth,” Alfred replied before she shut the door.

“Alright, undergarments first then you can eat,” Barbara said rolling in. Raven frowned at this but sighed as Donna grabbed her wrist and pulled her along. She hadn’t even seen the damn dress she was wearing! How the hell was she supposed to know what she needed to wear under it!?

“Come along, I believe Kori got you the appropriate undergarments,” Donna mused.

“But food!” Raven protested.

“You were never this food obsessed when we were younger,” Kori giggled floating in a corner as she was pulling out the boxes of what was probably going to be underwear.

“In case you didn’t notice, Garfield, and you, and Dick CANNOT COOK!” Raven stated coldly and firmly.

“I can cook!”

“No one can eat what you cook,” Raven clarified.

“Weaklings,” Kori grumbled.

“Well, no matter, we shall be dressed enough to eat momentarily,” Donna deduced.

“Why do we need special underwear for a dress?” Cassie asked.

“So it does not ruin the dress,” Diana said. Raven was a bit shocked that the Amazon had a legitimate answer to that. Alright, it made sense that an Amazon would have a legitimate reason for that, seeing as how all Amazons were breathtakingly beautiful, but with as fierce as they were, it was still a shock.

“It’s so we spend more time shopping,” Stephanie announced sauntering in.

“Raven, I know your size, Selina and Stephanie were most helpful though in selecting the needed garments,” Kori said landing and handing her a box. Raven just blinked.

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or concerned that you know my sizes,” Raven admitted.

“Come on, you are helping me,” Kori dragged her off.

“What?” Raven whispered.

“I need to know if I am showing, we have not spoken to anyone about the pregnancy yet,” Kori whispered as they made their way behind the changing screen. Raven just sighed as she nodded.

Kori heled Raven with the silicon bra, which was an odd feeling, but as she didn’t have much to begin with she didn’t have to really worry about a lot of bouncing. It was when she had to do up the garters though that she needed help. Kori was a massive help.

“Well?” Kori question once they were done with getting all their clothes properly arranged.

“I mean a little bit, but you’re not really far enough along to have a big bump worry,” Raven admitted as her friend stood there examining herself. There was a bit more fullness to Kori’s figure, but she was still a lithe warrior.

“I am pleased,” Kori sighed, dropping her arms the belly became more pronounced as a small bump.

“Alright, now it shows, but not that bad, with the dress I bet no one will notice it,” Raven admitted.

“This is not going to hide much longer,” she whispered.

“Hey, that’s not a bad thing,” Raven pointed out as she touched her friend’s arm gently.

“There is his family’s reaction to worry about,” Kori whispered.

“They’re going to be happy or I’ll make them be happy about this,” Raven avowed solemnly.

Kori gave her a weak smile in return.

* * *

 

Damian looked at Jason as he sat there in the afternoon, in the Cave with father and Dr. Thompkins hovering over him. It was time to remove the cast, Jason was siting very still then. Dick and Drake were at odds for some reason, and Damian had thought that odd, but he had other matters on his mind.

Until Dick flopped down beside him with a groan.

“Dick?” Damian looked over at the older man who just looked at him.

Dick said nothing, nor did he open his eyes, Dick appeared lost in his own thoughts which had Damian shrugging as he turned attention back onto the scene before him of Dr. Thompkins removing Jason’s cast. He did not understand what was going with Dick and Drake, he did not even understand what had started this, just that this conflict was irrelevant.

And it was cumbersome.

Damian did not like to think that this conflict would interrupt his own plans but it just might. He would need to be prepared to work around this. Which was a bothersome realization. It would be a hindrance.

But as long as he could work around it then he could find the solutions needed.

* * *

 

“He isn’t here,” she growled.

“He’ll be here,” Slade calmly remarked as he fixed his tie.

“And if he isn’t?” Jade demanded.

“Well then we will just have to improvise.”

“Are you sure it will work?”

“It’ll work,” Slade confidently assured the woman. It was always the quiet ones who had the true power.

* * *

 

After lunch Raven found herself cornered and sitting on the floor with Cass as the girls had started the ‘nails’. It was terrifying.

The only ones not doing the nails, were herself and Diana. Apparently, the Amazonian princess wasn’t all that patient for doing nails. As for why she wasn’t doing it, well, she had never done it. Raven had always weaseled her way out of doing nail painting with Kori, not really eager to be painted on or to do the painting.

However, as Selina had paired them all off to do this, Raven was now sitting on the floor, on a towel with Cass, who was determinedly and with painstaking amount of concentration, painting Raven’s nails.

“Think this will drop the guys’ jaws?” Stephanie asked from where she was working on Cassie.

“Definitely,” Selina purred. “Hold still,” she warned Diana.

“It is cold and uncomfortable,” Diana defended.

“Well, no moving else it’ll be smudged.”

“I still don’t see why I have to attend this Gala,” Raven muttered.

“So Jay comes,” Cass stated solemnly from where she was working.

Raven frowned. She possessed no hold or control over Jason and what Jason would or would not do, nor did she wish to have that power over him. He had lost so much freedom, she didn’t want to make it like she was out to control him. Besides that, trying to get Jason to do anything was like asking a hurricane to change it’s course, it wasn’t going to happen unless he felt the need to do what was asked of him.

“I can’t make him do anything, you do realize that, right? And even if I had my empathy I wouldn’t try to control him,” Raven warned them lowly.

“Never thought you would. What Cass here was trying to say, is that we’d appreciate Jason coming to the Gala and he is most likely to do that if he has a friend,” Selina supplied.

“We like Jason, we want him there,” Stephanie said.

“He hated these parties the first time around,” Barbara chuckled. “He wouldn’t sit still, or behave. He’d try, but then someone would say something about where he was from, or whisper about why Bruce had him; none of it was true, and he’d lose his temper or storm off. Also the food, he’d eat everything before him. And if told he couldn’t have something, he’d panic.”

“Can’t say I blame him,” Raven muttered. She had been there at a point, not as desperately as he had, but there was a time…

“We want Jason there, so if we need to use you to get him there, we shall,” Stephanie said solemnly.

Raven’s lips twitched a bit but she schooled her expression as one of apathy.

“I knew you couldn’t want me for my devastating awesomeness,” she sighed in her monotone.

All the other girls’ heads whipped around to stare at her with owlish eyes. Only Cass smirked a bit as she continued to focus on the painting.

“Friend Raven!” Kori gasped.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Stephanie shouted desperately.

“She’s joking!” Cass giggled.

“Oh… don’t scare us like that,” Donna sighed.

“The demon isn’t scary,” Cassie dismissed.

“No, I’m hell,” Raven answered.

“Always a good thing to be, little bird.”

“I have a name!” Raven sighed in annoyance. Between Selina, Harley, Ivy, and Jason she appeared to be losing her name, and she liked her name.

“I know, but you’re such an adorable little bird that it’s more fitting than Raven,” Selina mused.

“It is an odd nickname,” Diana commented.

“I like it!” Stephanie grinned.

“Me too!” Cass piped up.

“I don’t see why, I’m not that small!” Raven groaned. She really wasn’t, she was a healthy average sized woman, not too tall or too short, on the smaller scale for a build.

“I’m taller!” Cass grinned.

“We’re all taller,” Stephanie giggled.

“You’re short Raven,” Donna deduced.

“Well, she’s taller than me,” Barbara chuckled.

“True, but she’s still so tiny,” Kori mused.

“I am not small!” Raven protested.

“You’re adorable,” Donna mused.

“I hate you all and I will send you to hell,” Raven announced in disgust as Cass smiled and continued her work. Raven just resigned herself to being called ‘little bird’ for all of eternity now. However, she would blast someone she didn’t like if they were to dare to use the term of endearment.

“Other hand,” Cass ordered.

Raven just sighed as she surrendered to the treatment of today.

* * *

 

Garfield tugged on his necktie as he finished his tux.

He had arrived in Gotham with Tara two days ago. They hadn’t really been talking, and he hadn’t known what to say. However tonight he was going to the Wayne Gala.

He looked at his image induced self, and blinked. It was so weird seeing himself with sandy brown hair, green eyes, and white skin. It was so very, very, very weird. Years of being green and he wasn’t used to seeing himself being white. Odd.

“Ready to go?” Tara asked, appearing dressed in an icy blue, floor length ball gown. It had thin straps and clung to her athletic figure with every curve on her slight form highlighted.

“Yeah,” he nodded. Turning around he looked at her carefully. “You look nice,” he said cautiously. Garfield was being honest, she did look nice, but Tara always looked nice.

“Thanks,” she said absently as she fixed her earrings, and he offered her, her coat before they turned to leave. Garfield really needed to talk to Raven, he needed her clear, forthright advice about Tara and his relationship and what he should do.

The car he had called them was waiting outside the hotel as he smiled and got the door for her, playing the part of a good boyfriend.

Nothing in Garfield’s entire life, not even faking it to make it, had ever felt so much like a sham.

Not even faking it Raven when they had dated.

* * *

 

Rose squirmed a bit in her dress, she didn’t have access to a gun, but the security for such a Gala was going to be tight. Her loophole was her hairdo because that’s where she had put her weapons for the night.

“Look, I don’t think I should go, it’s not the best idea with your dad out for my head,” her ‘date’ whined.

“Shut up and man up, you’re going to be fine,” she brusquely informed him as she spun on him and yanked his coat straight.

“I’m just saying Rose,” he sighed.

“Look Hosun, there’s shit we got to do, I need a date, and you’re going, got it, get it, good,” she growled lowly.

“Fine, but if I die I will come back to haunt you,” he avowed.

“Unlikely. Now let’s go!” Rose ordered shoving him out the door of her safe house as she snatched her coat.

Her satin red gown hid nothing, so she didn’t think she’d have to worry about being patted down, and even if she was, it wasn’t like she had any ‘weapons’ on her that they could take.

Walking out into the biting cold she walked to the car she had ordered as they slid in and she pulled out the invitations she had swiped. No one would be any the wiser to her being there. Her date fidgeted which had him fixing his tie again.

Damn Hosun couldn’t leave the damn tie alone!

* * *

 

It was finally late afternoon and Raven stood there looking at the dress. She hesitated a moment as she looked at the dress. Raven had one other dress in her entire life, it was in the back of her closet waiting for the day that she turned twenty-five and was of age. It was ceremonial, it was sacred.

This dress though, it was elegant, it was simply elegant. She reached out and ran her fingers over the velvet. So soft, and she smiled a bit to herself.

Never had she owned something as beautiful as this, even the other dress wasn’t this beautiful. The other dress was one with a purpose, and while beautiful, it wasn’t to be worn for the sake of being worn.

Slipping off her robe Raven picked the dress up off the hangar. Gently unzipping it she stepped into it, and pulled it up her figure as she gingerly maneuvered it over her body. Slipping her arms in the sleeves she tugged her hair free, letting it tumble down her back, feeling it tickle her skin then she did the zipper up.

Pausing a moment she looked herself up and down in the mirror.

It was a deep burgundy color, the velvet looked so dark though, she short sleeves of the dress were a nice touch. The black, beaded sequences formed a small diamond in the center of her upper abdomen, lower chest beneath her beasts, and wrapped around the back. The top was conservative, minus the small gap revealing her minimal cleavage, but even that did not feel too exposing. The back of the dress though was open, a nice diamond wrapping around and giving her the nice ‘two pieces’ effect while still being one.

She actually liked it as she pulled her hair over her shoulder.

“Now for the jewels!” Selina announced, and Raven walked out from where she had been getting ready.

“Lovely,” Selina smiled, and she made Raven give her a turn, which Raven complied with before stopping.

“Beautiful, now, the earrings, I have a bracelet for you. I don’t think this dress should require a necklace,” Selina started.

Raven just nodded, a bit dumbfounded at this as she sat down and Selina started selecting the studs. A nice set of black pearl earrings, silver rings and a simple set of diamond studs soon filled Raven’s piercings.

“You’re keeping those little bird, they’re gifts, so no fussing,” Selina said as she was rearranging Raven’s hair.

“I can’t!” she started.

“Don’t insult me by giving them back, you’re a Siren now, so you’re family,” Selina smiled.

“They’re lovely?” Raven supplied.

“Better, now, let’s go watch those boys lose their heads over you,” Selina smiled as she handed Raven tall heels that were sandal heels.

Slipping them on Raven stood, gathered her balance.

“Hurry up girls, we can’t be late,” Diana shouted walking out as she fixed her own earrings.

“We can always be fashionably late,’ Selina countered.

“It’s rude!” Diana protested.

“We’re women, men are supposed to wait for us,” Selina countered fixing up her own jewelry.

Raven just chuckled at this as she waited for the others.

“Friend Raven! You look so lovely!”


	16. The Gala of the Century

Jason stood in the hall, tugged at his tie as he waited in the tux. It was odd thinking that he and B were the same size; granted Jason was a bit narrower in the chest and hips. Not the acrobatic lean that Dick was, but he wasn’t the fucking monster Bruce was either.

“Why do the girls take so long?” Damian pouted, he was wearing a white tux with a bright yellow tie.

“Because they’re girls,” Tim grumbled.

Jason didn’t answer Damian's question as he leaned against the wall; waiting. Girls took so long because they were gorgeous, and men were supposed to wait for them. That’s what he firmly believed and had, even before Alfred had drilled manners into him. However, he didn’t want to be here, and he really was trying to figure out the fastest ways out of this Gala.

He had always hated these events.

“Look, girls take forever, and guys wait, because if we ditch them, Alfred will have our heads,” Dick said walking towards them. Jason stuffed his hands in his pockets as he scowled at Dick.

And here was the reason Jason hated these parties Richard ‘Dick, Golden Child’ John Grayson could schmooze the crowd faster than Bruce could. All Jason had ever heard when he attended these parties was ‘Be More Like Dick!’, he had despised it. He still despised it. He hadn’t even heard it yet, and he despised it.

“You also wait to see our perfection squirt,” Selina announced which had Jason’s head turning to see her. Selina Kyle always looked like a queen, especially when she tried to look the part. Now she sauntered towards them, even with her post pregnancy figure, in a floor length, bright red, evening gown she looked like a queen.

“Tt,” Damian's tongue clicked, and Jason whacked the kid up the backside of the head. “What was that for!?”

“You know what,” Jason warned lowly. Bruce appeared then, fixing a cufflink that he had probably forgotten and gone back for, dressed in a black tux with a black tie.

Jason was starting to think that the tie colors were some sort of joke on Alfred’s part, because Bruce had a black tie, Dick a bright blue one, Tim had a bright green one and Damian had a yellow one. Jason’s own tie was red.

“You look beautiful,” Bruce said to Selina.

“You look like you were almost late, again,” Selina deduced as she took Bruce’s arm and dragged him off.

The horde of girls appeared, Diana was focused on her charges, talking to Donna and Cassie as they passed. Donna smiled and waved at him a bit. He nodded to her.

“So Tim, Ready!?” Stephanie appeared in a flurry of purple, lace and heals. Her blond hair drawn up as she smiled.

“Uh… yeah… Come on, Tammy might be here already,” Tim said. Jason notice Stephanie droop a little at that. Shaking his head, he sighed, stupid Timmy. Cass stalked by in a short black dress as she walked up to catch Stephanie’s arm and seemed to give Tim the evil eye.

“They’ll have a good time,” Dick chuckled.

“That’s going to end in hearts broken,” Barbara said rolling up to them in a pale cream dress, an emerald necklace, with her red hair falling down neatly.

“You look good Red,” Jason observed when Dick said nothing.

“Thanks, Luke’s my date tonight.” She smiled tightly.

“Luke Fox?” Dick sputtered.

“Yeah, later,” Barbara waved them off as she rolled away then. Jason said nothing as he looked over to the last two women walking towards them.

Kori walked with pride, in all her fiery glory, her mass of hair drawn up and back away from her face. The image inducer making her look human, but still he could see the Tamaranian. The dark green gown flowed around her, concealing any possible bump she might have had. Her usual green gem was her necklace again tonight, and the gold glowed against her skin. Jason thought she looked gorgeous, but clearly Dick thought he was seeing something awe inspiring as his brother’s jaw hung open.

“Kori… wow, uh…” Dick stuttered. Jason smirked at Dickhead’s silver tongue being tied in knots now.

“Thank you Dick,” Kori giggled as she dragged Dick off.

Leaving Jason with the quiet presence which had hidden behind Kori.

Now he turned with some smartass quip on the tip of his tongue that he felt dry up as he saw Raven standing there.

Holy Fuck!

When the hell did the girl start looking like that!? Raven’s dark eyes flicked up to him.

“I know, they went a little overboard,” she shrugged.

“No, not at all.” He managed. “Since when did you look this good?”

“I didn’t do anything different,” she shrugged. Jason didn’t comment.

For one thing, Raven, while sure, she was always pretty, looked gorgeous right now. Raven’s dark hair was all loose curls, which was unusual as the dark mass was usually straight. Her face glowed, yes glowed, and she looked like a model or something. That dark dress was good at being mysterious, which added to her allure, but it also highlighted something he hadn’t noticed about Raven. She had hips. Yes, his small, slender friend, had a set of hips. How had he missed that!? Alright, he hadn’t missed it, he ignored it. But that was very difficult to do with her dressed like that. Still, he wasn’t ruining a friendship for a pretty girl, especially if said pretty girl was his friend. So he just grinned as he offered her his arm out of habit. She slipped her arm in his.

“You had a funny look on your face when I came out, what was that about?” she asked.

“Never seen you in a dress before,” he answered half truthfully. Honestly, if he had some dorky look on his face it was completely her fault for walking out looking like that! Seriously, give a guy some warning!

“I used to wear them all the time on Azarath,” she shrugged daintily.

“Yeah, well, you aren’t on Azar, and I’ve never seen you in a dress,” he defended.

Raven’s lips twitched a bit like she was going to smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You do look gorgeous,” he said evenly.

“Thank you,” she smiled then. “But I’ll admit it’s weird having the back of the dress open,” she said.

“Hadn’t noticed,” he said carefully, and he peeked over her shoulder to see it. It was open, a large, rounded, diamond leaving her back exposed.

“You’re weird,” Raven decided.

“Not as weird as you think.” He defended.

“I don’t know, I think you’re pretty fucking weird sometimes. Like that time I walked in on you chained naked and bleeding on the bed,” she countered.

“Kay, so, not my finest moment,” he admitted.

“Oh, and the shower incident, the other time you were chained to a bed, and that bar fight were your best moments?” Raven asked.

“Why are we friends again? And how is it a pretty girl sees me at my worst?” Jason asked blandly. Because he was seriously just noticing how pretty she was and remembering all the embarrassing moments he had called her for help. Yeah, Jason was going to need to rethink that.

“Well, I don’t know, it’s not like I’ve walked in on you having ceiling sex with my best friend, or you licking yourself, or you having a naked party in the living room, so over all I think you’re doing fine,” she replied.

“Wait, back up? Ceiling sex?” Jason grinned.

“Oh, I got all the blackmail on the Robins and Titans, and am collecting it on you,” she said it so disarmingly sweet that he just blinked dumbly.

“You are a secretively nefarious little demon,” he deduced as his eyes narrowed on her.

“Key word in there: demon.”

“Huh, it appears I have underestimated you, saintly demon,” he mused darkly as they rounded the corner.

“It’s all a part of my plan for taking over the world,” she stated monotonously.

“Hm… In that case I’m second in command to this plot.”

“Oh, I must inform you that you’ll be third in command, Vic’s the second,” she countered.

“Really?” he hummed as they entered the Gala.

“Oh yes, he’s my vice president,” she answered.

“I thought you were a Queen?”

“I make the rules, Jason, you’re welcome to be Secretary of Defense.”

“Do I get the armory?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’m in! But no more blackmail, at least on me.”

“Rats, and here I was hoping to gain enough to leverage over you to make you my minion!” she sighed.

“I’m the advisor, I advise against that.”

“Fine. You’re no fun.”

“There you two are, come along!” Alfred said. Jason groaned as he was directed out before the crowd. There was a shit ton of people there. Jason hated this. He didn’t want to be there.

“Alright I showed up, I’m going home now,” Jason said.

“Oh no you don’t, come on,” Raven said dragging him with her.

“What? No! I don’t need to be here!” Jason protested as he couldn’t believe he was going to this.

“If I have to got you do to! Especially, since I don’t know anyone…”

“Hey Rae!” a voice boomed.

“Vic!” Raven released his arm as she launched herself off the stairs at Victor.

“Hey sis!” Victor spun her around. “And you’re the trouble maker who’s been hogging my sis,” he smiled as Jason reluctantly continued following Raven down the stairs.

“Well, you know, good company is so hard to find.” Jason said stuffing his hands in his pockets as he jogged the rest of the way down the stairs. He actually liked Victor.

“That it is,” Victor agreed grinning as he kept his arm looped around Raven.

“So, what are you doing in this party?” Raven asked.

“Well the big man invited me, besides, I wanted to see my baby sis,” Victor announced.

“I’m glad he invited you!” Raven decided.

“Great, your brother is here so I’m gonna go,” he decided.

“Oh no you don’t!” Raven grabbed his arm. “Come on bastard, this is your party!” she announced.

“Dude, you’re not escaping her, good luck!” Victor shouted.

“I HATE YOU!” Jason roared as he was dragged after Raven into the fray of the crowd.

“You adore me, I am the Queen, and if I have to be here you do too.”

“I despise the guilt tactic.”

“Good. So come along,” Raven decided. “What do we do at these parties?”

“Food, boozes, or a disappearing act.” Jason shrugged.

“Food,” Raven decided.

Alright, so he kind of knew why he and Raven were good friends, and it wasn’t just the books. “Now I wish I could get drunk. Now would be a good time to get smashed.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Seriously, you just want to suck the joy out everything.”

“You have actually been to these parties, and I haven’t been,” the way she pointed it out had Jason sighing.

“I hate you.” he avowed.

“No you don’t,” she smiled.

“How does Victor deal with you?”

“With a great deal of love and adoration,” she retorted.

“You’re lucky you’re cute.” He decided that, or he was a gigantic moron bewitched by her somehow. His empath friend was a demon so it was possible she had some sort of bewitching spell.

“Jason?” a voice called out. Which had him stiffening as he turned slowly.

She stood there with her brown hair loose around her in a pale pink dress. Well… Fuck. Jason just stared at her.

“Oh My God! I thought you were dead!” she rushed him with a smile. “You grew up tall! And so big! Oh, it’s so good to see you! And oh, you’re so pretty! Are you his girlfriend!?”

“Why does everyone ask that!?” he groaned.

“Well, she’s pretty, and you’re holding his arm, Jason never let anyone touch him.”

“Who are you?” Raven finally asked.

“Oh, I’m Rena, I went to school with Jason,” she smiled.

“I’m not his girlfriend,” Raven stated.

“I thought… oh, the paper said you were lovers,” Rena announced.

“We’re not,” Raven and he stated in unison.

“Oh, I just thought… never mind, it’s just really good to see you again Jason,” Rena smiled as she walked off.

“Rena?” Raven asked.

“I actually forgot about Rena,” he admitted. It was a bit difficult to care about first crushes after being… dead, resurrected, trained in the ten thousand ways to kill a human and never be caught, his revenge, his mission, his life, then the little bird just completely smashing into his life and ruining a lot of his plans.

So, honestly, he wouldn’t have even remembered Rena if she hadn’t been right there.

“So, what to do now?” Raven hummed as they resumed their walking.

Jason just shrugged. He was just going to hang around Raven for the night, at least then he’d have good company. Good company at these things was so much more difficult to find than the false company around these parties.

“Care for some dances?” he offered.

“I don’t dance.”

“And I don’t come to these parties, so come on,” he said as he took her hand and hoisted her around as they walked to the dance floor.

“I don’t think I should!” she squeaked.

“Come on, Queen, don’t tell me you don’t know how to dance,” he taunted.

“Don’t be surprised if I step on your feet.”

“I think you said that before, turned out to be an excellent dancer.”

* * *

 

Rose shed her jacket.

“Now, remember Hosun, we’re working,” she said.

“Rose,” Hosun started.

“Look, we’re here, no scenes, we’re working,” she smiled politely as she grabbed a flute as she stared down at the party. She was here to get Jason’s help. Whether he wanted to help her or not.

“Rose, I think this is a bad idea!” he started again.

“Bad ideas are my business, now let’s go,” she moved into the crowd.

“I think I should,” Hosun started.

“We’re going, and I need to have a chat with Jason about some work,” she smiled.

“Why are you so focused on this Jason guy?” Hosun asked.

“Well, if you’re worry about him being hotter than you, then don’t worry. You’re not even in league with him,” she mused.

“That’s cold. That’s real cold.”

“Jason’s the best at what he does, and what he does, is beat people like my father.”

“What?”

“Jason Todd, might be the noisiest, asshole on the planet, but let me be clear, there are a handful of people on skill level with daddy dearest, and there are even less people who are better than him, Jason would be one of them,” Rose said.

“How is it he’s this much of a badass, I thought you were better than Slade?” Hosun whispered.

“Not really, I’m getting there.”

“So this Jason… he’s going to take care of your father for us?”

“Possibly, trick is going to be getting Jason on board with beating daddy dearest.”

* * *

 

Jade walked in, holding her skirts as she assessed the crowd.

“No scenes,” the voice in her ear commented.

“Is he even here?” she asked.

“Oh, he’s here,” Slade answered.

“How can you tell?”

“Because he’s after the Gem, and the Gem’s holder is here.”

“What is this Gem? And what makes you think that he’s going to go after it?” she asked walking past Slade.

“Because, the Gem is the ultimate weapon, the ultimate prize, and if we want to be free, we will need the Gem,” Slade whispered catching her elbow.

“And what exactly is the Gem?” She growled lowly.

“It’s our ticket to freedom,” he said.

“Mmm, that answers nothing, Slade.”

“You just need to know that the Gem is the key to our freedom.”

“And you still haven’t explained how a trinket gets us to our freedom.”

“Because, the Gem isn’t a trinket.”

Jade frowned, she didn’t understand what the Gem was or why it was so important or how it was getting them their freedom.

 She didn’t know how the thought of using a trinket to get freedom would save them. But so long as it got her away from Prometheus she was willing to do whatever Slade wanted to do to get the Gem. Now she just needed to see it.

The Gem was something to gain freedom.

Jade’s eyes landed on a member of the League of Assassins as he pulled a girl into a dance.

* * *

 

Slade stared as Jason pulled Raven around to dance and he watched her coldly.

It was always the quiet ones.

Slade supposed he should have known that it was that girl who was the true power in this world. So quiet, so calm, so unassuming.

Now she was his ticket to freedom. It would just take Prometheus taking the bait. Slade caught sight of silver and red which had him lifting his brow as he snagged a sniffer and tailed after the little vixen.

He knew that walk, he knew that figure, and when she turned on him her blue eye glared at him with such a fiery hatred he smiled. Setting the sniffer on a passing waiter’s tray he caught her wrists before she could move as he swung her out onto the dance floor.

“Good evening daughter,” he greeted. He had always thought a father-daughter dance would never happen for him and Rose because Rose hated him so much. So he would just take the moment to enjoy having her trapped and to be her father.

“Slade,” she sneered.

“And what brings you to the Gala?” he asked.

“Your death,” she smiled so prettily. She looked just like her mother, he observed.

“And how do you plan to accomplish that?” he chuckled.

“I have the wild card, daddy,” she answered it so sweetly he blinked.

“Well, tonight is a truce, so just enjoy the dance,” he warned her with a smile.

“Mmm, I shall,” she coldly stated as she pulled away.

Slade sighed. Grant, Joseph, and Rose, all his children hated him. And perhaps one of these days, one of them would successfully do him in.

* * *

 

Raven carefully watched their feet as she relaxed in Jason’s grip.

“Rae, you do know that dancing means looking up, right?” he asked her.

“Shut up! I’m concentrating!” she snapped. She could feel him rumbling with laughter. A yelp escaped her when he yanked her closer, his hand resting on her exposed skin.

“Rae, you need to relax, it’s just dancing.”

“Easy for you to say! You had Alfred training for this!”

“True,” Jason spun her around. “But I was always light on my feet.”

“Mmm, I’m a lead foot, so let me see where I’m stepping!” she squeaked as he twirled her and she clung onto his arm then. She hated dancing! It wasn’t like fighting where there was a rhythm and reason for moving, nor was it like performing a spell where she had places to move to. No, dancing for fun was beyond her and she didn’t need to be an empath to notice Jason’s amusement at her inability to dance.

“I think we’ll manage,” he said.

“I hate dancing,” she groaned.

“It’s not so bad, kind of fun with a good partner.”

“Excellent you go find one and I’ll go find the food!” she smiled as she tried to pull away.

“Uh-uh, nice try though, if I have to be here, you’re my date,” he decided.

“Since when was I a date?” she sputtered.

“Since we walked into a room with Gotham’s elite and I see women eyeing me like I’m fresh meat.”

“Jay, I hate to break it to you, but you are fresh meat.”

“This is the first, and last of the Wayne Galas I’m attending, and I’m only here because of you, so you’re my date,” he deduced rapidly.

“I’m having a serious talk with Constantine about this next time he decides to bind us together,” she sighed. Now she looked down again so she didn’t step on Jason’s feet. She gasped when he dipped her.

“Will You Stop That!?” she snapped clinging to his arms again.

He laughed which had her stepping on his foot. “Such a vicious little bird.”

“Demon,” she grounded out.

“Yeah, so you keep saying, but I’d like to point out, you’re only half demon,” he said as they continued dancing.

“Does it matter? I could still devour your soul and walk away whistling,” she mused darkly. Raven didn’t actually eat souls, or use them, they were a form of currency in Hell.

“What is it with demons and souls?”

“Why do you ask?” she hummed.

“Because all of Constantine’s magic, and every myth revolves around demons taking souls. So I just want to understand why they’re so important; in general?”

“A soul is the purest form of love, a gift,” she said softly. “It is a mark of God’s love, on us. Angels and demons do not possess souls, it is why they are so coveted. Demons seek them as a form of corruption, angels guard them to bring them to heaven.”

“So, if you’re a demon…?”

“I am an anomaly, on many different levels Jason, I have a soul. My soul is my main weapon,” she said.

“I had noticed you had a soul, you know when Fate had to come fix yours. It’s just, if you’re a demon, and demons don’t have them, why do you?”

“Because I am half human,” she smiled a bit. “My human nature is what gives me many advantages and disadvantages against my brethren. The biggest being that I do not cease to exist when and if I should die. I don’t know what would happen, but I have a soul, so I might go to Heaven or Hell.”

“Hmm… interesting.”

“And Jason,” she leaned up to him which had his brow lifting as he leaned down.

“You have a soul,” she whispered. He blinked as if that wasn’t what he was expecting her to say. “I can feel it, as surely as you feel your heart beat.”

“So… when I came back, I got a new one?”

“No, as far as I can tell, your soul never left you, so it’s yours,” she shrugged.

“Hm… should I be concerned?”

“No, a soul isn’t like a heart or a liver, it’s not replaceable or interchangeable. I don’t know what happened at the time of your death, but you did die. However, it’s like… it’s like your soul wasn’t sent to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. Your soul… it just rested; waiting for your life. I don’t know what that means for you, Jason, but you are here for a purpose.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because only an Endless has the power to keep a soul resting, even if the body dies,” she answered. He paled a bit at that. Raven didn’t know what he had seen at the time of his death, she felt that was too personal to pry at. But he seemed unsettled by what she had said though.

“Weird thought.”

“Indeed.”

“So, your soul, why does yours seem to be a weapon?”

“Because it is, most my magic is soul based, as is the way in Azarath, but I have other magic. I also have an arsenal of powers, and a demon nature at my beck and call,” she answered.

“Well,” he started. “That’s neat,” he decided.

She laughed at his answer as he spun her out. “Don’t worry about my soul and magic, it has a tendency to work out in the end.”

“That’s good.”

“So, other than dancing, what do we do at these parties?” she asked.

“Well, at this point I’d say food, but I’m thinking we sabotage Dick’s flirting attempts. That’s what I normally did when I went to these things.”

“Or we can talk about _the Prince_?”

“Oh, so that’s where that went, I was looking for that.”

“It was really good,” she grinned.

“If you liked that, I have several others,” he replied.

“I like that idea,” she admitted. It was so good to have a friend who was a bookworm now. It had seemed like forever since she had had the opportunity to talk about books.

* * *

 

Bruce stared down at his son who was smiling as he talked to Raven. Jason had hated these parties before, but he seemed to be very happy with the company he had right now.

“He’s not going to disappear if you look away,” Selina said walking up to his side as they both looked down at the dance floor.

“I’m afraid to look away, he might not be real, or here,” Bruce admitted.

“Well kid, I hate to break it to ya, but he’s here, he’s real, and he’s dancing with Raven.” Selina chuckled. “I remember when he got his first crush.”

“He had a crush!?” Bruce spun on her.

“For a detective you are very clueless.”

Bruce frowned because he liked to think he had a good gage on how his boys (Dick and Jason because Tim and Damian were still growing) had been when they were teens and growing. Dick’s adortion for Barbara, and Tim’s crushes on Tammy Fox and Stephanie Brown were obvious. Highlighted with blushing and his boy’s giddiness about the girls.

“Well, he’s the most like you, so it’s possible you just missed it.”

“Jason’s nothing like me,” he sighed.

“Bruce, of all your sons, and children in general, Jason’s the only one exactly like you, not as emotionally inept as you, but he’s exactly like you. Minus the dork, because as much of a geek he was, he wasn’t a dork,” Selina chuckled.

Bruce looked back to where Jason was. Really? Jason was like him? Cass had said something like that before, shortly after they had discovered Jason was alive.

“I don’t see it,” he admitted.

“But I do, Bruce, and he’s exactly like you were, maybe a bit more emotional, but he’s exactly like you,” Selina said softly. “Now, we’ve had enough dramatic brooding. You have kids down there, and I’m starved. Also, you owe me a dance lover boy,” she chuckled.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, kid, make me feel young again,” she ordered.

He softened. Selina had always made him feel young, feel alive, even when he had wanted to hate that feeling after losing his son. Instead he offered his lover his elbow and Selina slipped into his side effortlessly.

“You look lovely tonight, Miss Kyle.”

“Thank you Mr. Wayne,” she giggled. “Helena’s with Terry and Lian, Alfred’s got them. So if you’re lucky, lover, you might get something.”

“Is that so?”

“Think you could bear to be late for patrol?” she purred.

Bruce felt the heat of that question as he assessed his lover then. Selina had always been a bit too good at this game of seduction. He looked up when he heard Dick laughing, and Kori smiling beside him.

* * *

 

Raven’s head fell back as she smiled. She hadn’t had this interesting of a debate in a while.

“Hey, I’m going to go hunt up some food for us,” Jason said as he released her.

“You do that, I’m going to go sit, these heels are going to murder my feet!” she sighed.

“I thought you wore heels all the time,” he pointed out.

“No, I wear flats.”

“Huh, I’ll be right back,” Jason said leaving her. Raven sighed as she was about to escape the dance floor when a hand caught hers’ which had her head whipping around.

“Good evening,” a handsome man said as he lifted her knuckles to his lips, planting a light kiss there. “I couldn’t help but notice that you are stunning,” he said.

“Thank you?” she said uncertainly.

“I also couldn’t help but notice that your date was monopolizing all your time, but has finally left.”

“He’s just getting food,” Raven managed.

“Care to dance then.”

“I don’t…” she started.

“Just one dance,” he smiled. His blue eyes were disarming in a way she didn’t expect as she was yanked into his arms. He was as tall as Jason, and possibly bigger. His light brown hair was neatly combed back, and he had bright blue eyes.

“So, Miss Rachel Roth,” he said.

“How do you know my name?” she snapped.

“It was in the papers, you are the biggest mystery next to Jason Todd-Wayne’s story,” he said.

“Are you a reporter or something?”

“Don’t insult me, I’m John, John Porter, and I am just very curious about a beautiful young woman getting tangled up with the Waynes.”

“Jason is a friend,” Raven shrugged as she was spun around again. She was getting dizzy from dancing. Also, there was something about how John Porter was looking at her now which had her on edge as she danced.

His eyes were disarming, but the smile, that was one of a wolf cornering his prey.

“It would always appear that way.”

“No, that’s how it is, not how it appears,” she snapped sharply.

“You are a feisty one,” he said.

“What do you want?” she growled.

“Cutting to the chase,” he observed.

“I know you can’t be a socialite here, and you’ve singled me out. You claim not to be a reporter, which means you’re after something else. Something that has to do with either myself or Jason. And if it’s about Jason I won’t tell you anything. If it’s about myself, I’ll punch you,” Raven rapidly fired at him.

“As it happens, I am here for you.”

“Then what do you want?” she snapped.

“What’s the fun of telling you that?” he asked.

“I don’t care what you want,” she decided, tearing herself from his grasp.

“Oh, but Raven, we’re just getting started,” he purred.

Raven froze at the use of her real name, then she turned to look at the man coldly.

He was gone though.


	17. Hunting for a Gem

Damian scowled as he noticed the Kents finally arriving. Of course, he expected Clark and Lois Kent; they were fixtures of this mundane theatrics since before he had ever come here; or so his mother had told him. What had him scowling though, wasn’t the sight of Jon or his newly acquired brother, Conner, no, what had him scowling was Kara Danvers-Kent standing there in a green dress. Damian thought of a thousand ways to destroy that dress, but frowned when his father beat him to the Kents.

“So, what’s the plan?” Jon scampered over to him.

“At the precise moment they go under that arch, we trap them there with this!” Damian stated as he proudly produced the mistletoe he had swiped from some decorators and been storing for the week. There was no way Jason nor Raven would evade this, as that arch was the one which lead to the family quarters.

“And that’s it?” Jon asked dully.

“Oh, I see Jason!” Kara scurried off which had Damian's brow twitching.

“And destroying your cousin’s dress,” he growled.

“Dude, Kara will kill us!” Jon squeaked, and Damian saw Tim drag Conner off. Clark and Lois seemed to get into a serious talk with his father then and Jon grimaced.

“What is that about?” he gestured to a tense Kent and his wife.

“Conner, it’s always about Conner now, Mom wants him, but Dad’s…” Jon grimaced.

Damian shrugged. He didn’t get this. He did not understand this hesitation about the Kents and the clone. Nor did he particularly care. He had really only asked about it because he was curious. Curiosity made him seek information, and information was power.

“We must!” Damian started as he dragged Jon with him but faltered seeing Raven dancing with another man, this other man was holding her a bit too close, and didn’t look like Jason. At all. Damian felt his brow twitch as he wanted to grab his knife and hurl it at the stranger. Only to remember that Pennyworth had disarmed him before this party.

“Dude, is she dancing with…?” Jon gaped.

“Do you know this interloper is!?” Damian hissed.

“No idea,” Jon answered.

“He must be eliminated!” Damian seethed. He didn’t get this! Why must everyone interfere with his plans!? This would end, and it would end now.

“Don’t do something stupid!” Jon protested.

“He is not supposed to be there! Where is that imbecile Todd!?” Damian snarled as he started stalking through the crowd to find his brother. The imbecile had better not be wasting his time with some harlot! If he was, then Damian would… kick him in the shins. He couldn’t stab Jason, not here at least; also he was unarmed.

“Damian!” Jon protested.

Damian was so angry with Todd right now, he was also angered with the brunet dancing with Raven. Jason was an imbecile! And Damian would not stand for that right now.

Not at all.

Damian scowled seeing Jason talking with Kara then. The fool!

* * *

 

Raven wouldn’t admit she was unsettled easily, no, she wouldn’t. But as she stared at where John Porter had been, she was unsettled for the first time in a few years. Her eyes scanned the crowd as every instinct in her was now screaming and on alert. The demon in her was unsettled and now she moved swiftly as she could. Sore feet forgotten she moved, hunting for the threat and not seeing him. She wished she had her empathy now to hunt, but she didn’t.

For the first time since she was a child she was forced to rely on her demon senses rather than her empathy.

“Rae!” a voice shouted. she ignored it as irrelevant as she hunted, the stranger though, he was gone. A hand caught her elbow and she spun on the offender who had touched her to find herself looking at Tim.

“Tim!” she gasped. “And Conner!”

“Hey,” Conner smiled slightly, and Tim was grinning ear to ear then.

“What’s up?”

“There’s someone who you might want to meet,” Tim said.

“How are you Conner?” Raven asked, giving up the hunt for the moment as she slip her arms in her boys’ arms. It wasn’t like she often had two handsome men on her arms; Jason didn’t count as that would go to his head.

“I’m… adjusting,” Conner said carefully.

“Adjusting is good, how are the Kents?” she asked.

Conner was looking uncomfortable. Raven sighed, she had been kept apprised of the Kent situation. Clark and his clone, Conner; had a strained relationship. But despite that, Martha, Lois, Kara, and Jon had accepted, and even welcomed Conner. Lois had marched up to the Tower, and dragged Conner out with her taking him to the Kent family farm, the arguments between Clark and Lois were apparently legendary.

“I don’t belong…” Conner grumbled.

“Family isn’t about belonging, Conner, it’s family, just ask Tim,” Raven turned to the teen, who looked sheepish then. “What did you do Timothy?”

“I might have snapped at Dick…” Tim grimaced.

“We will talk about whatever that was about later,” Raven warned him.

“You’re…” Tim started.

“As I’m now stuck in the midst of you batshit crazy family people we’ll be talking about it, just you and me, because if I have to deal with anymore batshit batty family things in your batty family, I will scream,” Raven growled.

“That’s a lot of bats…” Tim grimaced.

She arched her brow dangerously then as they moved through the crowd.

“Fine, I see your point,” Tim surrendered.

“See, Conner, families everywhere are nuts, except mine. My family is awesome!” Raven stated happily.

“Your family is dangerous,” Conner grimaced.

“Not **_that_** family, Victor, Victor is my family, and he’s awesome,” Raven clarified.

“Families are…” Conner pursed his lips and Raven chuckled.

“Complicated, yours is still working it out,” Raven promised.

“Thanks,” Conner smiled a bit.

“Now, who am I meeting?” Raven turned to Tim.

“The Kents,” Tim hissed.

“I…”

“The big man wants to talk to you,” Tim clarified. She sighed as she leaned on them; fun suckers.

“Angela,” a hand touched her bare skinned back which had Raven jolting as she released Conner and Tim to escape the touch.

“Oh I apologize, you look… you look like an old friend,” a short man smiled kindly. “Angela Roth.”

“Well… I’m not Angela Roth,” Raven stated as she tried to slip around behind Tim and Conner. She didn’t like this, the way the man was looking at her, it wasn’t something she liked. It was rather like the way John Porter had looked at her, but also different.

“Ambassador Sebastian Blood, of Zandia,” he held out his hand.

Raven hesitated a moment before she took his hand. “Rachel, Rachel Roth.”

“Lovely name, so like Angela,” he said.

“Rae,” a voice called behind her.

“Excuse me,” Raven said as she escaped him then and walked to the Kents where she saw Clark and Lois there, Bruce was also there.

“We’ll meet again, Rachel,” the man purred.

“What is it with creeps at this party?” she muttered to herself.

“Rachel,” Bruce said.

“Bruce, and what did you guys want to discuss?” Raven asked as she looked at the three of them.

“We were talking about Conner, and the possibility of him living in San Francisco.” Clark sounded firm.

“Uh-huh,” Raven frowned. “Well, that’s a bad idea. Just a horrendous idea. San Francisco is not a boarding school, we do not take on full year students unless there are special circumstances.”

“These are…” Clark started.

“No, they aren’t, these are unique circumstances which, while extraordinary, not all that special. We are not keeping Conner at San Francisco.” Raven saw Lois nodding firmly at this, and Bruce glaring at Clark. Oh boy, she had really had stepped into it.

But aside from her and Victor, the Tower didn’t have permanent residents, ever. Even Jaime, Tara, and Garfield had other homes; Kori did too because of her modeling career. So, aside from herself and Victor, there were no permanent residents.

She because there was no other home for her, and Victor because his home was so broken he wasn’t going home; ever.

“Told you, now you can either get your act together or…” Lois started, Raven tuned it out then. She didn’t need to hear an argument she didn’t need to be involved with.

“I’m borrowing Rae now,” Tim announced, she gasped as she was yanked off and spun around to the dance floor.

“I was trying to escape the dance floor,” she warned him.

“Not anymore, I want to talk to you,” Tim smiled.

“About what?” she asked. “And you and I will be talking about whatever it is that happened with Dick, later.”

“Jason, I… I wanted your opinion on if we’re pushing him too fast?” Tim muttered.

“Honestly, no,” Raven said. “He’s not running Tim, so, just be patient with him.”

“That’s it?”

“Just be patient, he’ll come around.”

“Patient or persistent.”

“Both,” Raven smiled a bit.

“Thanks Rae, and who was the guy you were dancing with?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like him,” Raven admitted.

Tim just nodded as they continued dancing. Raven had always liked Tim, the teen was a level kid. The opposite of Dick, Tim was a strategist, he fought the fights before they ever happened. He was also quieter than Dick, in personality. So Raven could see how everyone in the Bats could over look Tim when he didn’t speak up for himself often.

“Why do you say that?”

“Just a bad feeling,” Raven admitted.

“You’re not an empath right now,” Tim said softly.

“You’re right, but despite my human appearance, I’m still a demon Timothy, and I possess instincts,” Raven replied as Tim twirled her out and she came back to him.

“Really?”

“I ignore the baser instincts, but I don’t know, something about that man had everything in me disliking him,” Raven admitted.

“Hmm… I’ll look into him,” Tim decided.

“You don’t have to, I will hunt him down if he’s a real threat.”

“Rae, I’m offering you a break, take it,” Tim smiled.

“Fine,” she surrendered. Bats were annoying this way. They liked winning, they also liked mysteries. Raven didn’t, she never had, she liked answers and mysteries weren’t something of interest to her.

“By the way, what is Damian up to?” Raven asked spotting Damian stalking (rather predatory-like) towards Jason who was holding two flutes and talking to Kara who was obviously giddy. Jason just looked ready to run.

“Oh, he’s trying to get you and Jason together,” Tim answered. Then his head snapped up, his blue eyes widened and he looked like a floundering guppy then.

“He’s. What?” Raven grounded out.

“I was not supposed to say that!” Tim squeaked.

“Well you said it, so explain, now Timothy, or I’ll make your life hell!” Raven warned lowly.

“He wants you and Jason to get together! Like dating, I only agreed to help him so he wasn’t trying to kill me!” Tim squeaked.

“He wants WHAT!?” she sputtered.

“Well you can’t blame him! he’s got B for a dad and that assassin bitch for a mother! you and Jay are pretty normal!” Tim defended.

“We are not!”

“Are to, you two also get along really well, and no one else ever does that around him. It’s not that big of a leap!” Tim defended.

“Jason and I aren’t dating,” Raven warned.

“I didn’t think you were, I just… he’s finally trying not to kill me!” Tim whined.

“What is he plotting?” Raven grounded out.

“Mistletoe.”

“Mistletoe?”

“Mistletoe is all he’s got, though I think he was getting Dick onboard his ship of merry band of idiots to set you two up,” Tim groaned.

“At least the master mind behind this brilliant plan is dumb as rocks with people,” Raven sighed then.

“So you’re not going to kill me?”

“No, you’re coming with me and telling Jason this, then we’ll decide what to do with you,” she declared.

“I’m doomed.”

“Should have thought about that before teaming up with Damian.”

* * *

 

Garfield handing Tara’s coat off he watched as she sauntered out towards the room, and he blinked seeing Raven with Timothy Drake. He blinked a bit at that, true Tim and Raven had become close after he and Raven broke up, but it was still startling. How was it that all the Robins gravitated to her? Well, he got it, Raven had that zen quality about her, that level personality. It was why he wanted to talk to her about him and Tara.

Garfield sighed as he walked after Tara towards the dance floor and he paused seeing Dick with Kori, they were talking and laughing.

There were other heroes here too, he noted, so he walked forward. Tara turned, her blonde bob bouncing as she smiled at him. Gar smiled back as he touched her back.

“I’m going to go talk to a few friends, you should mingle,” he said absently. Victor was hanging with the food, and talking to one of the Arrow kids, Garfield blinked at seeing Artemis here. The Queens never attended this, then again, he didn’t either.

“Hey Vic,” he smiled as he walked up.

“I didn’t think you’d be coming,” Victor turned to him.

“I didn’t think the Queens would be here,” Garfield mused.

“Crock, I’m not a Queen,” Artemis countered. “And I’m home on break,” Artemis said. “It was nice meeting you, Victor,” Artemis smoothly said as she turned and walked off. Arrows and their fondness for the color green.

“What’s up Gar?” Victor turned to him.

“Not a lot, need to talk to Rae,” Garfield said uncertainly. Gar’s relationship, in general, with Raven, after his break up with her, was a giant bad idea with Victor. Raven was Victor’s little sister, Gar was the guy who had hurt her. Trust him, Raven meant far more to Victor, than Gar meant to Victor. Victor had made him fucking canon fodder after the break up.

“About what?” Victor asked darkly.

“About Tara, and me, and our relationship,” Garfield managed.

“Dude that is…”

“Hey, I’m not here because she’s my ex, I’m here because she’s Raven, she’s… she’s my friend,” Garfield said carefully. “I need her advice, because she’s actually good at this stuff.”

“You hurt her Garfield Mark Logan, I will end you,” Victor warned. “You broke her heart, and if you’re doing this to rub salt in old wounds I side with her.”

“I get that,” Garfield said carefully.

“Good, because she’s my sister,” Victor warned.

“I know, but she is my friend, and I know we’re out of practice on the friend thing, but friends are nice,” Garfield admitted.

“I can deal with that,” Vic said.

“Thanks, so mind distracting her dates so I can have a moment of her time, so they don’t kill me or worse,” Garfield said.

“On that, you’re on your own,” Victor said as he caught a passing drink.

Garfield sighed. Go figure.

* * *

 

Felicity smiled as she stood in a gold gown, and she looked up at Oliver. Connor, William, Artemis, Mia were already mingling, and Tommy would be here soon, he was looking onto an arms dealer first. Right now though she had Digg and Oliver on her arms, her two favorite men.

“There’s Bruce, I’m going to go talk to him!” she said.

“Felicity!” he started.

But she had slipped her husband’s grasp as she slipped through the crowd. She managed to slip around to be in front of Bruce and his brunet counterpart. A lovely woman with a pixie cut, who Felicity was guessing was his current baby mama, Selina Kyle.

“Hi, Bruce, I mean, Mr. Wayne! I’m Felicity Smoak-Queen, I wanted to know if we could talk!” she smiled. Bruce smiled slightly, but the woman smiled broadly.

“Felicity,” Bruce greeted.

“I just… Roy, Roy Harper, he’s my… son? Step-son?... anyway, I just wanted to ask about how he was. I mean, I love him, I do, and I get that he’s recovering, again, but I just wanted to know how he was,” she said cautiously. Bruce’s eyes were so very cold, and indifferent and she didn’t know what to feel about that. It had her faltering a bit.

“Roy is well, I can speak to him and see if he would like to see you,” Bruce said kindly.

“Would you!?” she smiled in genuine delight. She had been so very worried about Roy since he had disappeared, and Oliver telling her that he was with the Waynes was a massive relief. She missed Roy, he wasn’t like her brother, and he wasn’t like her kid, but he was somewhere in between that.

“Certainly,” Bruce smiled.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” she almost moved to hug him, but she managed to hold back as she smiled instead.

“There you are, I apologize Mr. Wayne,” Oliver said.

“He just agreed to ask Roy if Roy would like to see me!” She announced to her husband who blinked down at her.

“Well that is,” Oliver started.

“Not a problem, moms like to know how their children are,” Selina spoke up then.

“Oh, I’m not… his mom, though I did file the paperwork,” she said carefully.

“Thank you,” Oliver filled in for her awkward bumbling, but she was so happy. She just wanted to know that Roy was alright, it wasn’t like Roy was Connor, or William, or Artemis, or Mia, where she could just pop in, or call them to make sure they were alright.

“It’s not a problem.” Bruce assured them.

“Oh, has Roy mentioned hearing from Thea?” Felicity spoke up.

“Not as of yet,” Bruce said carefully.

“Thank you again, for all you are doing for my family,” Oliver said to Bruce and steered her away. “What was that about?”

“I wanted to know where Thea was,” she clarified.

“You are still running all search parameters for her, and I have my word out to my contacts, we’ll find her,” Oliver promised.

“I know, I just worry.”

* * *

 

Jason was very uncomfortable having been cornered by Kara and Cassie, and now he was working on escaping and getting back to Raven and the Bats, they were safer company than these… vultures.

At least with Raven and the Bats he wouldn’t be harassed.

“So, are you going to go dancing?” Kara grinned.

“You’re a little young for me,” Jason pointed out.

“I’m seventeen!” Kara protested.

“Exactly,” Jason countered. “Now, excuse me, I have a date,” Jason said slipping around Kara and Cassie.

“A date, really? Who’s this date?” Raven asked as Jason handed her the second flute.

“Haha, very funny sunshine,” he lowly growled. “What’s with you and puppy eyes?”

“Really!?” Tim balked as they started walking. Raven took a sip of the Champagne then.

“Puppy eyes, I like it, catchy,” Raven decided.

“Do you just side with him to annoy us?” Tim demanded.

“Do go mocking my only friend,” Jason warned. “And what’s up?”

“Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne has divulged some very interesting information to me, regarding the youngest of your brothers,” Raven said coldly.

“I don’t have brothers, and what is the demon spawn up to?”

“Do I have to?” Tim whimpered.

“You have to, or I send you into a hell you’ll never escape,” Raven warned.

“Damian is trying to set you and Raven up!” Tim squeaked.

Now Jason lifted his brows. Raven knocked back her drink then. “I don’t like Champagne,” she decided.

“Rae, you don’t drink it like that, and why is the troglodyte trying to do that?” Jason asked.

“Well, look at B and Talia, then B and Selina, the Dick-Kori-Babs thing, and everything else, he’s not exactly normal, and you two, are normal. Very normal. I think he likes that,” Tim said carefully.

Jason frowned, he didn’t like it when people dragged him into shit like that. He didn’t like it when people (Bats) meddled with his life; person, professional, or love life; because it wasn’t anyone’s business but his own. But looking at Tim and Raven he sensed that he was about to be ambushed by the demon spawn into some sort of ill attempt at a meddle into his love life.

“What’s he plotting?” Jason sighed.

“Mistletoe,” Tim answered.

“Mistletoe?”

“Mistletoe.”

“Anything else?” Jason asked with great amusement now; it was good to know the little troglodyte was as inept at romance as B was.

“No, but he’s recruited Dick,” Tim said.

“Ah,” Jason nodded; okay, that could be trickier. But Dickhead was just that, a dickhead, so Jason was sure he could get Raven on board with messing with Damian and Dick.

“Well, sunshine, the deck is stacked against us, feel like messing with them?” Jason asked with a grin.

“I’m not blasting the idiots,” Raven sighed.

“No, no, no, as amusing as that could be, let’s turn the tables on them; and we have our double agent now,” Jason smiled coldly at Tim.

Tim blinked owlishly. “Me?”

“Yes you.”

“He’s going to kill me when he finds out,” Tim gulped.

“Then don’t get caught,” Jason stated as Tim scurried off. Raven just sighed as she leaned on him. “Mind if I kiss you?”

“Hm?” she turned to look up at him with large eyes.

“First, you are gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but we’re friends. Second, it’s mistletoe that’s what people do, but as we’re friends I’m asking before we get ambushed. And third, it’ll help with us turning the tables on these assholes,” he clarified. Jason wasn’t about to push the empath into something she wasn’t comfortable with, and he was mostly comfortable with anything. Raven and he didn’t have many boundaries, but that didn’t mean he wanted to make her uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry, but… how do we turn this on them if we do with they want?” Raven asked.

“Go with it, and then oust them publicly and preferably somewhere with a camera so we can rewatch their horrible attempts at apologies,” he grinned.

“You mean this?” Raven asked.

“Sure, it’s not like there’s anything between us,” he pointed out.

“True, and it would teach Damian not to meddle in things he doesn’t understand,” she considered. Jason could see the gears in her head turning then. “Fine, but I warn you, I’m not that good of a kisser.”

“That just takes practice, sunshine,” he smirked.

“In case you hadn’t noticed I don’t exactly have a ton of people lining up to practice with,” she pointed out and he shook his head.

“Are they idiots?”

“No, actually, the empathy is a turn off, just ask Gar, or Garth,” she shrugged.

“Garth? Tempest? From Atlantis?”

“Yes, he took me on a few dates, they weren’t much, but they were fun, the kisses though, the empathy scared him off,” she shrugged.

“So making out and shit?”

“Empathy scared Garfield off of second base, and Garth didn’t go past first,” she mused.

“Hmm, interesting, but you’re not an empath now, and I don’t scare sunshine,” he grinned deviously.

“True, so I’m okay with it if you’re alright with terrible kisses,” she said with consideration.

“I’m fine with it, I’ve kissed Rose, I don’t think it gets worse from there,” he grimaced.

“Really, because the way I see it, every time you two get close,” she started.

“We land in a bed, bleeding,” he answered flatly. She snickered a bit. “Honestly, that’s a hundred percent hormones. So, back to the mistletoe and twisting this around on them?”

“Sure,” Raven shrugged.

“Thank you sunshine!”

“I’ll explain it to Vic before we do it,” Raven assured.

“I forgot about the protective older brother, after all, his little sister is a complete badass,” Jason shrugged.

“Why thank you,” she smiled. “More so than Rose?”

“Oh, easily more badass than Rose,” he said. There was a flash of silver and red which had his brow arching. “Speaking of flowers, you go talk to your brother, I’ll go pick another little thorny flower.”

“Good luck, don’t get a fat lip,” she warned as she ducked off. Jason walked after Rose, she was focused, her lovely hair ornaments had him plucking them off her as he caught her elbow, spinning her to him.

“Such lovely silver hair, and pretty knives,” he held them in front of her.

“Hey Jason,” she smiled. “And you know me and my love of useful tools.”

“Uh-huh, so what do you want?” he asked as he pocketed the knives, keeping a firm hand on her.

“Gee, I don’t think it’s changed since I told you,” she purred.

“Rose, when I have a lead, I’ll tell you about it,” he warned.

“Well, you’re slow on the uptake, Daddy’s here,” she growled. Jason’s eyes flicked to Raven who was currently talking to Victor.

“Rose, I’m warning you,” he started.

“What is the Gem he’s after, and how’s it connected to Raven?” she asked. Jason stiffened. “What? Were you hoping I wouldn’t notice your two’s reactions, or all the Bats’ reactions?” she spoke lowly then. “Jason, what is the Gem?” she grounded out.

“The Gem isn’t a what, Rose,” he released her to move around her. “It’s a who.” He whispered in her ear.

Rose stiffened.

“And it’s… her,” she whispered.

“If anything happens to her, Rose, if Slade or his associates touch her, I will end everyone, you included. The Bats, and the Gem, they are off limits Rose,” he growled.

“You really care about her?”

Jason didn’t answer.

“Don’t worry, your darling little bird will be safe. Dad isn’t getting her,” Rose warned. “Can I have the knives back.”

“Rose,” he started.

“I’m on your side, and if Dad’s after her, she’ll be none the wiser that I’m here to help,” she smiled. “Trust me Jay, I’m good at keeping people alive.”

“I’m trusting you Rose,” he said it carefully as he let her have the knives back. Jason looked back at Raven who was now talking with Dick and Kori.

“Never thought I’d hear you say those words,” Rose admitted redoing her hair.

“If anything,” he started.

“Jay, I’m just as good at this as you are,” she countered.

“I’m serious Rose, that little Gem possesses more real, raw power than a Kryptonian, if anything happens to her, I’m killing you first,” Jason warned. Walking away from Rose he scanned the crowd now, searching for his new threats.

All enjoyment of the party was gone, even as he watched his family and friend enjoy themselves.

“Well, that sounds interesting,” Dick mused.

“So, are you two actually doing this to flip it on them?” Victor whispered.

“So long as she’s alright with it, I’m cool with it,” he shrugged.

“What are you two whispering about?” Kori asked.

“I’m warning him off my little sis!” Victor supplied swiftly. “Is it working?”

“Are you kidding? Rachel is a bad ass,” Jason shrugged as he looked over the crowd.

“Looking for someone?” Dick asked.

“No,” Jason shook his head swiftly. If Slade could get into a Wayne party, then the Bats wouldn’t spot him or his associates.

* * *

 

Rose looked down at the girl in a burgundy dress, and just stared. Yeah, sure, Raven was powerful. Rose had seen her on the television, on the news, but she hadn’t ever thought about it. Now she stared at the purple hair of the Titan, so Jason’s newest plaything wasn’t just interesting, but powerful.

Rose looked over to where her father was looking at Raven and she felt her red lips curl.

So, a Gem wasn’t a thing, it was a person, and it was Jason’s person. Things just got interesting. She liked interesting.

* * *

 

He stared at Raven and smiled, if that gorgeous little weapon was as powerful as his partner has said then he was going to win. All he had to do was get that Gem away from it’s guardian. The Gem would be his, and he would have the ultimate weapon against the League.

Things were going to be interesting now. All he needed was to get the bird to get her Gem. He liked the challenge, he also liked that the girl foolishly thought she was safe surrounded by the Bats.

He was itching for a fight against them all.

* * *

 

Oh she was a beautifully stunning creature. He smiled to himself, she was a perfect specimen and would be the perfect mother of their savior.

She looked so like Angela, and Angela Roth had changed the world with that beautiful little creature of perfection from their savior.

He was so eager to bring about that change. But first, he would bide his time, now was not the right time to take a claim on Trigon’s only daughter. The girl would need to accept her place in the world, her true purpose. Giving him and the world, it’s heir and savior.

* * *

 

Bruce looked at Selina who smiled a bit as she danced with him.

“Everyone is fine Bruce,” she purred as she moved with him.

“I can’t shake this feeling,” he admitted, there was a gut wrenching feeling in him which had him scanning over the crowd. It was the same feeling he had when Dick was trapped with Two Face, or when Jason had been about die, or when Tim had been taken by Ra’s, or when Selina was about to die.

“Everyone is here, everyone is safe, now enjoy the night,” Selina ordered.

Bruce said nothing as he watched the crowd.

* * *

 

Dick looked at Jason and he didn’t get it. His brother was obviously uneasy, but Dick was surprised at Jason actually hanging around. Raven hadn’t even been around Jason the whole night. Perhaps this was a change, and perhaps Tim wasn’t wrong. Dick wasn’t sure what to think about that.

But he was very happy that his brother was here.

At least, until this moment as there was a chill down his spine and hairs on the back of his neck. Looking over his shoulder he looked around for what was agitating him, because it was also clearly bugging Jason.

Jason’s eyes had the same predatory look that B’s got.

There was a hunt going on now.


	18. Party Crashers! Or Party Poopers?

Jim was running late, for the first time in over twenty years, he was actually running late for the Wayne Christmas Gala. The largest Gala in the country, and the biggest one of the year. It had been, long since Gotham had been established. And hosted, continuously by the Waynes. The president would attend, if they could. Hell, Gordon had a meeting with most of the Police Commissioners at this party.

And he was late!

Standing at his desk he was pulling on his coat when there was a light knock on the door.

“What is it Montoya, I don’t want to hear it if it’s about Harvey being dirty; again.” Jim said, not looking up. He was in his tux, and he wanted to go to his friend’s party to see his daughter and congratulate Bruce on getting his son back. Because not everyone was so lucky.

“I’m here to report a crime,” a soft voice said which had his head snapping up at the unfamiliar voice. There, in his door (the door of his Captain’s office in the Central Precinct of Gotham’s Police Department, the only office he had had in thirty plus years of being a cop) stood a beautiful blonde. Her gold curls were loose, but those eyes. Those blue eyes; he’d seen those on another. A stocky young boy who had dark curls a crooked grin with trouble maker written across his forehead.

“And what crime might that be?” he asked as he straightened up.

“A murder,” she replied walking in, she was in a black dress.

“Uh-huh,” he managed and sighed as he sat and gestured for her to take a seat as well. The woman did so as he pulled out a pen and paper. “What’s your name ma’am?”

“Sheila, Sheila Haywood,” she answered.

“And whose murder are you here to report?”

“My son’s,” she replied. “Jason Todd.”

The pen clattered from Jim’s fingers as his head snapped up. He had been there, eight years ago, when he had witnessed Bruce Wayne’s world shatter again. It was when Jim’s world had broken soon after. And yes, he was well aware that Jason Todd had been really, really dead, multiple autopsies had confirmed that. The murderer was always known, but the Joker’s insanity was irrefutable, so nothing could be done about it. So, Jim, who hadn’t seen the new guy posing as Jason Todd, fully trusted Bruce as to the identity of the young man being Jason Todd. Because Gordon was more than aware of who Bruce Wayne really was.

“I want the murderer arrested,” she continued.

“Lady, this is serious,” he said carefully. “Everyone knows that the Joker hurt the kid, but we can’t go arresting him.”

“The Joker didn’t kill my son,” she coldly stated.

Jim blinked several times.

“Joker was just the weapon used, but that entitles prick, Bruce Wayne is the reason my son died. He’s the Batman, and he made my son Robin,” she snarled. Now Jim got to his feet as he went to shut the door to his office.

Here’s the thing, despite what the Waynes thought, most of the police force had figured out who the Bats were. It was hard not to, the Waynes, while eccentric and good at lying to the public, were the only ones who fit the Batfamily to a tee. And Gordon, having met the Bats from the start, had figured it out early on, he, like most of Gotham, didn’t care enough to arrest them. The Bats did more good than bad, for the world, and they were also some of the most dangerous, and genuinely kind souls Jim had ever met. They had saved Babs from herself, they had saved Gotham, and the world, repeatedly, and every single one of those boys and girls deserved whatever good they got in life.

“So you’re claiming to know who the Bat is,” Gordon said as he flipped the lock soundlessly on the door.

“My son showed me his Robin outfit,” she snapped.

“Uh-huh,” he nodded as he now turned to her, she looked taken aback as he came to loom over her. “I Am Well Aware Of **_ALL_** The Facts In Regards To Jason Todd-Wayne’s Death.”

“Then do something about it! Arrest the Bat!” she demanded.

“Sit Down,” he snarled when she started getting to her feet. “I have known who the Bats were for years, Ms. Haywood. But I’m also aware that you are the one who lured young Jason Todd to the Joker,” he stated coldly.

The woman’s eyes widened a bit, her lips parted as she looked horrified, slowly sinking down to the chair then.

“Now, I don’t know what your gimmick is, I don’t care,” he warned. “But if you want to continue to push this, I will come after you for his murder as well. And Sheila, I wonder, if I dig, really dig, into your past, what will I find.”

“Then why haven’t you arrested the Bat?” she demanded, her blue eyes bright with fire.

“Because the Bats are doing more good than harm, and your son, was the most fearless Robin ever. If you continue to push this, I will take you down,” he stated. “Goodnight Miss Haywood, I’m late.”

Standing he picked up his scarf as he walked out of the office, leaving the stunned, pale blonde in his office.

Jim was well aware of the Bats, he was also aware of how Jason Todd Died, even if he hadn’t had the heart to read the autopsy reports, or the other reports. But he was aware, having looked into missing Jason for Bruce, that Jason had run off to find Sheila Haywood. Sheila Haywood was wanted for questioning in regards to a death of a teenage girl who had died from complications from an illegal abortion. Jim would bet money that Sheila had something to do with Jason’s death, and he didn’t want to know.

Knowing would destroy them all.

* * *

 

Sheila stood, dumbfounded as she watched the GCPD Commissioner walk away from her and out of the precinct. She trembled in fury, everywhere she turned there were doors being slammed in her face. Could no one see that the Bats were a menace!? That they had killed her son!?

Jason would have never died if he had never been Robin! She was sure of it.

Her part in his death, it wasn’t that she was blameless, but she wouldn’t have handed him over to Joker if he hadn’t been the Robin!

Snatching up her coat she stalked out of the precinct, furious, frustrated, and about to go to the press. Someone would listen to her! Someone had to listen to her.

“I’m sorry,” she gasped slamming into a slender woman.

“I couldn’t help but overhear your plight to the commissioner.” A voice rasped.

Sheila looked over at the person she had run into. “What about it?”

“What if I could help you with it?” the man offered.

“And how could you help me?”

“My dear, I am going to destroy the Bats,” the man supplied.

“I just want my son,” she started.

“And you shall have him, if you aid me,” he smiled, and she reluctantly found herself walking with him.

“And how can I aid you?”

“You are a doctor, no?”

“I am.”

“Then you help me, and I’ll help you.”

“Who are you?” she asked.

“You can call me Dusan.”

* * *

 

Tara moved through the crowd when a strong set of arms caught her and spun her around. She blinked up at the man she had been looking for as she casually fell into the dance with Slade.

“She’s on sabbatical right now,” Tara stated. “If you’re after her now is the best time.”

“I’m aware my dear,” Slade purred.

“Then what do you want?” she asked. Tara just wanted… she wanted everything to be good again. Everything between her and Garfield to be good, and that was only going to happen if Raven was no longer a part of the problem.

“For now, nothing, just a dance. Tomorrow, the real work begins.”

“I’m not hurting Gar,” she warned.

“My sweet child, we’re not interested in Garfield Logan. Though I’m sure your lover would be more hurt by you being our mole than after his former lover,” Slade mused.

“I’m not a child,” she warned him coldly as she felt the earth shift to her control. But she couldn’t lose control, not here. “And I’m not your mole. I’m only helping you to help me.”

“That’s what they all say, but face it Tara, you were never a good girl to begin with,” Slade pointed out.

She growled a bit. “I brought the files you wanted,” she said as she slipped them into his hand. “Now let me go, I have to mingle.”

“Tomorrow, Tara, when I call, you come,” Slade said.

She stiffened but didn’t counter as she walked away from him.

* * *

 

Talia smiled as she walked in on the arm of her date. Things had changed for her in the past month, since seeing Jason at Watergate and the mysterious disappearance of her target she had changed directions. Forging the right papers, she had decided to attack an enemy she could have more control over. One who wasn’t the target of her wayward Bat.

Which had led her to selecting an enemy a bit more personal to her beloved’s civilian life. And many other’s civilian lives.

Lex Luthor.

For now she was just going to seduce him and take her time wooing him over. Talia did not mind seducing a man to her whims, not that it always worked. Talia smiled at her date as he excused himself to talk to someone. Her eyes narrowed dangerously on her beloved’s lover as she selected a flute of Champaign.

The Cat was talking with a demon, and she noticed her beloved walking through the crowd. Talia walked over to the place her beloved would see her the most.

“Hello beloved,” she purred as he walked through the crowd.

“I warned you,” he started.

“Now beloved, I’m not here for you, or my son,” she started as he closed in on her. She set the flute aside as he caught her. His grip was tight, not the lover tight.

“Then what are you here for?” he snarled.

“I am here for a dance, a drink, perhaps something more fun, and Luthor,” she answered as she then moved her lover into a dance.

“Luthor?”

“He has taken quite an interest in your company and Queen Consolidated, and Merlyn Global,” she started.

“Talia,” he started lowly.

“Relax beloved, I am still watching over my son. But I will not touch your harlot,” she stated. She would win him back. Selina was but a speck, Talia was his wife.

“She isn’t a harlot, Talia,” Bruce warned.

“I am your wife.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Oh, but you are beloved. You and I, we’ll always be together.”

“Talia, because this is public, I will not kick you out. But Stay Away From My Family,” Bruce growled, then he released her as he walked away. Talia just stared at him, and then frowned. Momentarily she accepted that he was not hers, but she wasn’t going to give up just yet. Her eyes scanned the crowd before she moved towards the woman in red, her beloved’s harlot.

“Selina Kyle,” Talia said coldly.

The shorter woman turned to her, her head cocked to the side as her green eyes cold and blank then. “Talia al Ghul,” Selina spoke.

“You may have him now, but my beloved will never be yours,” Talia warned.

“Well,” Selina drawled. “You’re right, but he was never yours’ either.”

Selina walked away then and Talia seethed at this information. Oh, how she loathed this situation. But it wasn’t over as she walked for Luther. This would not be over until she said it was over. Talia wouldn’t lose everything because her lover was chasing some street rat.

* * *

 

“No Dick, I am not dancing with you!” Raven sputtered. She had been hanging out by the wall, trying to catch her sense of self when Dick had come along to keep her company as Jason was dragged off by Tim and Damian for something or other; she didn’t want to know. All she cared was that she had a moment to herself, the mistletoe and grand scheme of turning the tables was hashed out, and Victor wasn’t liable to shoot Jason for this bout of deception.

“Awe, come on, you danced with Tim and Jay,” he smiled that movie star smile at her which had her folding her arms as she narrowed her eyes on him.

“Yes, Jason because he’s a bastard and decided we were dancing. Tim because he’s adorable and hopeless. You are neither,” she decided.

“Wait, you’d dance with Jason because he’s a bastard, but you won’t dance with me!? I’ve known you longer than Jason!” Dick protested. “And Tim!” he sputtered.

“Ah, yes, you have, but alas, Dick, I’m still not dancing with you. I’ve seen the acrobatics you and Kori do,” Raven smiled sweetly at him.

“You are lucky you happen to be cute,” Dick muttered.

“I’m adorable, just ask Victor,” she decided.

Raven felt her lips twitch in triumph at Dick’s sigh of defeat.

“So, how are you holding up Rae?” Dick decided.

She grabbed a passing sniffer, she had no powers, there was nothing holding her back from trying some of the alcohol here. Or having a bit of fun, as Jason had pointed out. However, Dick’s question had her lifting her brows as she looked up at him.

“Why are you asking?”

“Well, honestly, we haven’t chatted since… wow, way before Jason came crashing into our lives, and you’re my friend, you’re my brothers’ friend, and I just want to check in on you.”

“Mmm, I’m good, tired. But good. Oh, and your family will be the death of me,” she predicted swirling the alcohol contents and then taking a sip. It burned, but it didn’t taste bad. A bit sour but it was okay.

“Any boyfriends or crushes I should be aware of. Do I need to consult Vic on beating up someone?”

“No?” she said looking up at him. “I mean aside from you and your obnoxious brothers. And I don’t want to encourage the beating up of your brothers as that usually gets all of us hurt rather than the other way around.”

“Can’t blame us,” he smiled charmingly.

“No, but it sort of sucks the fun out of beating up someone when they beat you up.”

“True. Is it true you were adopted by Harley and Ivy?”

“You know, I don’t know,” she admitted. “What is this?” she lifted the glass.

“Whiskey sour, and why are you drinking it?” he took it from her and put it up on a passing waiter.

“No powers,” Raven answered.

“What?”

“You asked!”

“You’re supposed to be the responsible one of us!”

“I’d like to point out I’m a demon, and not responsible by nature.”

“I call BS on that.”

“Jason suggested I try it.”

“That makes more sense,” Dick decided.

“I don’t have powers, so it’s not like I tear apart the cosmos, I don’t see the harm in doing what **_normal_** nineteen year olds do,” she defended.

“Rae, it’s not that.”

“It is that, I have been good all my life, I would like to try to be normal for a bit until I get my powers back, then back to being apathetic and responsible,” she shrugged.

“I forget you’re nineteen.”

“Why? Tim’s seventeen,” she pointed out. “Damian's ten. Jason’s twenty-one. You’re twenty-five. How could you forget I’m nineteen!?”

“Because you never act it, and I’ve known you since you were twelve. Stop that!” Dick grabbed her next drink from her as he set it down grabbed her wrist and spun her around to be in front of him. Raven gasped as she caught his arm to keep from tripping onto her face. What was it with Bats and spinning her around!?

“You guys have got to stop doing that!” she stated as Dick slowed it down, so she was loosely held.

“Well, you got to slow down the drinking. And I’m serious, I want to catch up!” he defended.

“Oh, like I’ve never dealt with you drunk. You’re a boneless drunk! You, Wally, and Garth! Thank Azar Roy was sober to help me out!” she stated.

“I hate that you can do that,” he muttered.

“Mmhmm,” she hummed.

“So, seriously Rae, how are you?” Dick asked.

“I’m alright, Dick. I mean I’m pissed at your dad, but I’m getting over it,” she shrugged. “I guess I was always going to need a civilian life at some point, I just hadn’t thought about when that point would be.”

“So you’re not too mad at him?”

“I’m royally furious at him for doing it without my permission. And for leaking my name to the papers. But hey, Vic’s still my brother, and I’m not sure, but I have a feeling I’m about to have two moms,” Raven rolled her eyes. She had a feeling she wasn’t ever escaping Harley or Ivy, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t had worse people in her life.

“You’d really let them adopt you?”

“I don’t think I’d have a say, the way they were talking I was already theirs,” she shrugged.

“Oh boy,” Dick muttered.

“And no, no boyfriends, or crushes, I don’t exactly have a large dating pool,” she pointed out as Dick spun her out, she stumbled back into him, keeping a firm grip. She was getting dizzy from all this dancing. “What about you and Kori?”

“We’re not getting married because of, you know,” he said stiffly. “But I’ve talked her into giving me a shot,” Dick smiled.

“Mmm,” she hummed.

“We’ve got a place, and we’re going to work at this. I still think I’m going to marry her, just maybe not right now,” he admitted.

“Well, that’s always smart, don’t screw it up this time around.”

“I won’t.”

“Good,” she decided. Then she relaxed against Dick as he moved them around. Raven wouldn’t ever admit it, aloud, but there’d been a point when she’d have given anything to be his girl. However, Dick was much too old for her, at the time she was fourteen, and he wasn’t in love with anyone. But with his charm, and how he had looked out for her, Raven had been besotted. Now she was usually vastly annoyed with the Bats and their antics, and their handsome looks had zero effect on her.

“Hey, dickhead, go bug your own girl!” Jason called out. She lifted her head just in time to see Jason before she was gasping as she was spun into Jason’s chest.

“Ow,” she muttered, her nose colliding with his chest; again.

“I think I shall, have fun you two, and Jay, don’t get her drunk!” Dick gave her a wave as he walked off and she found herself tucked into Jason’s side.

“Party pooper!” she shot back at Dick, and Jason snickered.

“Why, queen, I wasn’t aware you were testing the alcohol.”

“The Champaign sucks, but the whiskey sour was alright,” she decided.

“The Champaign costs more than an apartment, and you think it sucks.”

“It’s disgusting,” she stated firmly.

He just laughed.

“Come on, time for our scheme!” he said lowly.

“Oh, however do we begin taking over the world?” she asked, his hand resting on the small of her exposed back. She was aware of the contact as most people didn’t touch her skin normally, it felt kind of nice, and warm. Jason was a heat monster though, another reason she didn’t mind sharing a bed with the man.

“How about we turn the tables first, then focus on world domination?”

“I like this plan, after this party though I think I want to try getting drunk.”

“Ah, so you are finally taking my advice on that!”

“Not really, but I’m nineteen, and I’ve never been drunk, I think I should try it,” she shrugged.

“Fair enough, and you’re safe here.”

“Another reason to try it.”

“So you do trust me,” he smiled charmingly.

“With my body, mind, soul and life,” she answered honestly which seemed to throw him for a loop for a moment as he just blinked. His charming smile changed as his expression turned severely solemn, and his eyes darkened dangerously.

“I will take that very seriously, sunshine.”

“I know, it’s why I’m telling you.”

“By the way, did you invite Harley and Ivy?” he asked.

“No, why?”

“Because they’ve just waltzed in.” Jason said.

“Oh Azar no,” she winced.

“Yeah,” Jason said and Raven turned carefully to see Harley, and Ivy there. Both looking stunningly normal as they moved through the crowd with no one the wiser that they were two of Gotham’s elite villians.

“Quick hide me!” she hissed.

“We have to kiss, then we can hide.”

“Fine!”

* * *

 

Jason had rapidly deduced the quickest way to get Raven safe and out of Slade’s reach was to move her out of the party and to the private wing of the house where he could keep an eye on her and fortify a position.

However, because he didn’t want to concern her too much he was trying to figure out the best; natural, escape from these parties, and implement the plan to annoy the demon spawn. All this whilst not alerting Raven that Slade was here for her. Jason was greatly unsettled with the realization that Slade was here, and he was focused on Raven. But, he was handling it one thing at a time.

The only good thing about this party was that no one could take her and not draw attention to themselves. Victor, Dick, Tim, Bruce, Alfred, Selina, hell, even the demon spawn being here created a bubble around her. Rose was an added measure of this bubble, which Jason was temporarily and cautiously trusting. And now, much to his relief, there was Harley and Ivy. The relief he felt just seeing those two here was monumental, he didn’t even like them and he was relieved they were here. Because no one would be able to touch the Gem if they were here to have it their way.

Bitches they might be, but loyal and lethal they were.

Jason’s eyes scanned the crowd. Slade was here, he was here for Raven. And if Slade was here, then Jason knew damn well that Slade’s team was here, which was composed of a woman and another man. A woman who was the mother of Lian and a deadly assassin despite never being part of the League of Assassins, so a woman not to be trifled with.

“You love them, and you know it,” he teased; for Raven had liked Harley and Ivy. He had caught onto that with how quickly she relaxed around them.

“It’s not a matter of that, I don’t want to know if they did or did not forge my adoption papers! Also, I’ve had enough crazy for a lifetime with your family, I want peace and quiet.”

“I never said that they were my family.”

“Jason, you have Dick, Cass, Tim, Steph, Damian, Terry, and Helena for siblings, and they all love you very much. I do not need to be an empath to know that, I see it. Then there’s Bruce and Selina, who love you, and Alfred adores you. Also, they’re nuts and driving me insane!” she stated.

“I was all for Tahiti!” he defended.

“No.”

“I think you’d look gorgeous in a black bikini,” he said with a devious smile.

The demon’s face flushed pink which had his amusement rising as she didn’t look at him.

“We’re not going there.”

“Oh, but that’s half the fun of the beach, queen,” he teased. She glared at him.

“I’m warning you now, Jason Peter Todd, you might be a very dear friend of mine, but you will never see me so scantly clad,” she stated this firmly.

“You are no fun,” he sighed.

“I’m not meant to be fun.”

“And yet you’re willing to try being drunk.”

“I decided to be a normal nineteen year old,” she countered.

“Ah yes, to be normal… it’s over rated.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Which is why I can say it. Besides, it’ll be interesting.”

“What is it with your family and things being interesting?”

“Makes life more entertaining.”

Jason felt her sigh which had him just snickering. Raven was fun to annoy, even when he was assessing threats against her. So long as nothing happened to her he didn’t mind bantering with her. His eyes continued to scan the crowds. The important people here, it was amazing that Bruce hadn’t called in the GCPD for security. Then again, a good portion of the suits here were security. Still, Slade was here which made all security obsolete.

Not a comforting thought, especially with people like Harley and Ivy able to crash the party.

“Hey, are you alright?” Raven asked him.

“Peachy, why?”

“You look distracted, and your eyes are turning bright green.”

“The Pit’s a little close to the surface,” he admitted. It had really been bothering him, but he wasn’t as concerned about it or losing it now that he had a mission to focus on. Keeping the Gem out of Slade’s hands was a good enough focus to have him shoving all distractions, emotions, and memories from his mind. Something to focus and hunt was one of the best ways for him to either ignore or channel the Pit’s energy.

“Why haven’t you talked to me about it?” she demanded.

He blinked at her fierce look and he softened a bit with a shrug. This was Raven, she genuinely cared and wasn’t asking to annoy him or because of a lack of faith in his control of the Pit. “I just had been ignoring it. And after everything this week it seemed pointless trying to stress it. Not after…”

“Hey, if I could I’d send her to hell,” Raven said softly.

“I know, but I’ve got a handle on it, now,” he said carefully.

“If you still have troubles tell me, I know some meditation tricks that might help,” she offered.

“Sure thing, queen.”

“I’m serious, Jason.”

“I know you are, and you’re genuine about it, which is why I’m not blowing you off about it, but Rae, it’s not like when it all came roaring back. It’s dimmed down a bit, and I can handle it when it’s not the focus of my mind. It’s just another irritation,” he admitted.

“Mmm, how are the nightmares?” she asked point blank. he grimaced.

“That’s not fair, and you know it.”

“It’s a serious matter Jason, and I’m trying to help. I know the stress you’re under here,” Raven waved her hand around at the party around them.

“Yeah, and I got this Rae,” he promised.

“You’d tell me if you didn’t, right?” she asked.

“Actually,” he leaned over to her ear then. “I would. You trust me, I trust you.” he whispered. “I trust you with everything, Rae, and then some.”

Standing back up he saw her face was a careful mask of apathy, but her eyes were fierce and strong, which had him smiling a bit. At least she got it. Unlike everyone else, Raven got it. She got just how fucking important this friendship of theirs was to him, and she didn’t seem to mind that it wasn’t anything but friendship. Jason was always relieved of that aspect of their relationship, Raven was just comfortable with him.

“I’m glad we are at an understanding then.”

“Me too,” he offered her his elbow again, she slipped her arm in his.

“So, what are we doing now?” she asked.

“Well, the little troglodyte is setting up his mistletoe, we kiss to appease him. draw them into thinking we’re a couple or whatever the fuck it is they’re after and then we get them sputtering apologies when we confront them about it,” he decided with a smile.

“Alright,” she nodded.

“And Rae,” he said.

“Hmm?”

“I’m really glad you trust me,” he said it carefully and she softened as she looked up at him.

“Of course I trust you, Jason, you’re my friend.”

He just grinned hearing the confirmation of their friendship. He hadn’t had a friend before, he kind of liked it.

“How did your chat with Rose go?”

“Well, I’m not bleeding, all parts are accounted for and I didn’t lose my pants, so weird,” he deduced rapidly.

“Wow, have you two never had a real conversation before?”

“Uh…” he tried to think on that but he didn’t think he and Rose had ever had a real conversation. Not that they hadn’t exactly been mute with each other either. “Does cursing the other’s existence count as a conversation?”

“You need better tastes in women, Jason,” Raven informed him primly.

“Is that an offer little bird?”

“I…” she stumbled over her words then as she looked very confused and he chuckled as he clasped her linked hands on his arm.

“I’m kidding, we’re friends.”

“I walked into that last one, didn’t I?” she finally sighed.

“You did, but I do need better tastes in women, but for now, it’s not serious or important,” he shrugged.

“I’ll just take your word on that,” she decided. He shook his head in amusement at her clear uncertainty about the topic.

“You don’t have room to talk as you dated Garfield.”

“I walked into that one too,” she sighed.

“Yes, yes you did, queen.”

“Can I ask, why Rose? I mean, you two just seem… ready to kill each other.” She said this carefully and he shrugged.

“If I ever figure it out, I’ll tell you. But for now, it’s just hormones,” he admitted.

“Huh.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because I’ve never met two people who seem to despise each other as much as you two do, and land in each other’s pants. I’ve been trying to figure out the logic there.”

“No logic, just good sex, and hormones. And if you think Rose and I are bad you should have seen the Talia and Bruce relationship at it’s worst,” he shuddered.

“I will never understand you humans,” Raven decided.

“Don’t worry about it, sunshine,” he offered. She just nodded in agreement, and he found her oddly amusing at this conversation. Raven was oddly innocent, and strangely worldly. It always made for interesting conversations, even with topics he didn’t always want to bring up.


	19. Gentlemen Don't Kiss & Tell

Tim sighed as he helped Damian, as the look out. He didn’t like this, he didn’t like having Raven and Jason on his case against Damian and Dick. But then again, he didn’t mind.

“Are you done yet?” Tim called, looking at his phone as he looked over the numbers for the R&D division of WE at this moment.

“Done with what?” a happy voice asked, which had Tim yelping as he jolted up to see Tammy there dressed in pink, as she smiled at him.

“T-Tammy!” he stammered dumbly, his phone forgotten.

“Hey Tim,” she smiled. “Are you seriously working at this party?” she asked.

“Uh… no,” he smiled nervously as he shoved his phone in his pocket and backed off the wall, backing up as Tamara Fox walked up to him. There was something about Tammy which always had him turning into a bumbling idiot.

“Watch it Drake!” a voice snapped when Tim tripped into someone.

“Oh, a mistletoe,” Tammy smiled as she walked forward.

“Not for you!” Damian snapped.

“You’re adorable,” Tammy chuckled, and before Tim could snatch her away from a glaring Damian she leaned over and kissed his cheek, then Damian's before walking off. Tim’s brain was gone as he stared at her pink form walking off.

“Whatcha boys up to?” another voice asked.

“Steph!” Tim jolted.

“Fatgirl,” Damian clicked with disdain. Stephanie appeared, as a vision in purple as she looked them both over. Tim grinned at her.

“I’m helping the demon spawn with something,” he replied.

“I thought B didn’t do mistletoe at these parties,” Stephanie commented, Tim noticed with some disappointment she was hanging just out of the mistletoe’s range.

“If you must know Jason and Raven are idiots, and that is to get them together.” Damian snapped.

“OOOOO! You’re setting up JayRae!” Stephanie bounced with glee then.

“Yes, you are Cain’s cohort so I thought she’d have told you,” Damian announced distastefully, Tim slipped away from him as Stephanie’s eyes narrowed on him then.

“Cass and I are best friends, doesn’t mean she tells me everything. And since Jay’s my favorite how do I help?” she asked.

Tim was furiously shaking his head at her. “Don’t, he’s just got mistletoe, and if Jay or Rae find out, we’re dead,” Tim hissed.

“They’re idiots,” Stephanie and Damian announced in unison, and Tim threw up his hands in defeat. He could at least say he tried when Jason and Raven turned the tables on these morons. Cass, Dick, and now Stephanie were in for it. And Tim didn’t know if he should laugh or cry at the impending disaster of Jason’s scheme. He had a feeling Jason was probably better at being underhanded and sneaky than they all were.

“Hey Conner,” Tim smiled as he stood beside his friend who had just escaped the dance floor from Kara’s grasp.

“Hey Tim,” Conner said as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “This is kind of neat,” Conner admitted.

Connor Hawke walked by with two girls who looked ready to swoon for him.

“I hate these parties,” Tim muttered sourly, only to see Tammy walking with Cass and smiling.

* * *

 

Dick pulled Kori close, her impressive height was still gorgeous, and he had to admit he was the luckiest guy here as he danced with her.

“Rae seems to be enjoying herself,” Kori noted.

“Jay and Rae aren’t important here,” Dick decided.

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” he grinned.

“And what has made you decide that?” she asked.

“Because I have the prettiest girl here and she’s making everyone jealous,” Dick smoothly stated. Kori’s little mingling had had Dick just craving her company. He always liked having her to himself, especially when she looked this gorgeous. But the added antics of Damian and Tim to set up Jason and Raven was another reason he hadn’t had much time with his girlfriend.

“I wish to announce my pregnancy to your family at Christmas,” she said softly.

“Really?” he brightened at this as he gently swayed with her.

“I feel there is no reason for us not to announce this joyous news, I am announcing my own disownment tomorrow to Tamaran, and I will not mention the pregnancy further to them,” she stated.

“And you’re okay with that?” Dick asked.

“It is for the best,” Kori decided softly. “I cannot bear the thought of my child having the crown when my father sold Kom and I for the peace of our world. No, this is for the best. My child shall not suffer the fate I did.”

“Hey, I back you a hundred percent,” Dick promised. Because he did. He did support Kori, no matter what she decided, he was with her all the way. Even if she wanted to go back to Tamaran; he’d pack his bags and go with her.

“I know,” she smiled. “You are a good man Richard.”

“I try,” he admitted. He worked very hard to be worthy of Kori, because Kori was a Queen, she was his everything and she deserved only the best. He would aim to give that to her.

“I believe I should speak to a doctor soon,” Kori admitted.

“Really?”

“Yes, would you like to come?”

“Of course,” he smiled. He would do anything to be involved with his girlfriend and his child. Dick wasn’t running from this. This was the center of his entire existence now.

“I will speak to the doctor about you coming along,” she smiled.

“Thanks Kori,” he whispered. Kori would never know, she couldn’t even comprehend what this meant to him. For as much as he loved her, there was just no way to quantify what having a family meant to him.

“I am most excited about this!” she admitted with a massive smile which had him grinning in response. He was excited about it too, he had dreamt of it before. To have a family of his own. Now that was almost a reality.

He blinked seeing Jason and Raven walking to leave where the mistletoe was.

* * *

 

Raven would admit that she was a bit uncertain about the mistletoe kiss, even as she noticed they were walking to leave and the mistletoe was treacherously hung above the exit. However, she wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. And it was just Jason. It wasn’t like a kiss could have earth shattering, life altering, destiny changing qualities, despite what fairy tales said… right?

And she’d been kissed before, by Garfield and Garth, even having had a kiss from a drunk Wally.

None of them had been particularly life changing, and honestly, she didn’t get the need for people and their kisses. So, while she had nerves about kissing and being kissed, she didn’t feel that it would change her world.

It was just Jason. And it was just a kiss.

Still, she wasn’t certain about this, which had her snagging another whiskey sour and knocking it back for some liquid courage.

“We don’t have to do this,” Jason said.

“Nope, we’re doing this,” Raven said firmly.

“Uh-huh,” he lifted his brow at her and shot her a skeptical look.

“Look, I haven’t had much experience with this, so I’m allowed to be nervous. Also, I don’t think some of my kisses count if one of the guys was drunk, and the other was a villain,” she admitted.

“…You trust me.” He stated it like the fact it was.

“Yes,” she answered without thinking twice about it.

“Then this will be fine...and you can’t possibly be worse than some of the other people I’ve kissed. You’re not trying to kill me, which will honestly be a first in a few years for me,” he shrugged.

“Do you even realize how pathetically sad that statement is?” she asked.

“Never thought about it, little bird, and actively try not to think about it,” he grinned rather wolfishly at her. Which had her frowning in retaliation.

“That’s sad, just sad.”

“Hey, I’m content doing my thing. Dating is a hassle, and face it, it’s about to become hell with the being alive thing again, and I’m not interested in dating…As to the sex, that’s not really my thing, but hey, it’s still fun,” he shrugged.

“I’m just going to take your word on that,” Raven primly decided. She wasn’t a prude, but she didn’t think sex was in the cards for her in this lifetime; not with how her empathy scared off most guys.

“Hey, after this; want to get drunk?” he asked.

“Actually, yes, I think I’d like to try that after the week I’ve had,” she decided.

Jason had the good authority to look a wee bit sheepish as they continued toward the exit. Raven wasn’t mad about this past week, but it had been a long and stressful week for her. Long, stressful few months actually, since the A.R.G.U.S. debacle had started with Jason calling her and how all of that had snowballed. Now it was almost Christmas, and it had felt like a life time.

“Hey, it’s no one’s fault, shit happens,” Raven shrugged.

“True, and I’d get drunk too, but the Pit,” he sighed that last part wistfully.

She got it though, she really did. Raven just sighed as they walked. She savored the familiar company of Jason and the sweet and pending taste of freedom coming once they got this damn kiss over with.

She was all for turning the tables on his brothers, especially in this matter, but she wasn’t exactly leaping at a chance to kiss him.

“Ah-HA!” Damian shouted, materializing from nowhere in his white tux, which had Raven jumping a bit back into Jason who steadied her.

“What do you want demon spawn?” Jason sighed almost in exasperation, she bit her lip to keep from smirking at this.

“There’s a mistletoe! You have to kiss whoever you’re with!” Damian announced smugly.

Raven looked up and there, above her, was a small mistletoe, with a little red bow, a few red barriers even, hanging directly over her and Jason.

“Huh...” Jason managed. “So it seems...” he mused dryly, turning his head to look toward her, her eyes meeting his as she felt her heart rate quicken.

 _This is it_ , she thought. _The moment is finally here...Let's just hurry up and get this over with._ She wanted another whiskey sour.

Reaching for her slowly so as to not overwhelm her in this moment, Jason stretched his arm and cupped her face, displaying a showy mildness not often seen, as he gently positioned her head just the way he wanted it, thumb expectantly caressing her lip.

Parting her lips as she closed the gap between them, her eyes caught sight of some amusement and something a bit more, deep in his eyes. In one step more, his lips were on hers, though hesitant at first their kiss soft yet there was a spark.

There was a hush over the people nearest, and Raven found herself drawing closer, as an arm slipped around her. Tentative at first, she felt his mouth move over hers’, and before she even thought about it, she parted her lips and he deepened the kiss.

He tasted like whiskey, and something a bit more dangerous, a bit spicier, she couldn’t place it...but she kind of like it. His calloused hand spread over the skin on her back, reeling her in. Relaxing quicker than she ever intended to, she _felt_ the heat that she saw in him...she recognized that she felt her own heat too.

It was enough to have her arms wrap around him to grip his shoulders, as she found herself more enthusiastic to feel and return his kiss. He seemed to approve of this, albeit a bit surprised by her desire to continue.

There were distant clicks and flashes of light, their sounds coaxing them out of their fervor and their daze, their eyes fluttering open taking in the other before them.

Releasing a breath, slow and bated, Raven flicked her eyes to meet Jason's, but his were on her lips...her now pink and tender lips. Fighting the blush that worked its way to mar her face, she averted her gaze to the astonishment of others, who saw it through the abundance of their eyes and lenses.

“Come...” Jason eased her off, pacing out of the room, leaving her to hurry after him as he made his way to the private family quarters.

"...Jason....what was that?"

“ _That_ was a kiss,” he said as he took her hand and pulled her up to his side as she picked up her velvet skirts.

“...Never been kissed like that before...” she muttered.

“You’re missing out,” he said and winked at her. “...And you’re not a bad kisser either...”

“...You’re not so bad yourself,” she murmured in response.

“What can I say? I aim to please, queen.” he said with a sly smirk.

“Ugh...Someone took a picture of that...” she grimaced, slowly feeling the mortification seeping in.

“Yeah...it’s the Wayne Gala, I doubt it’ll be much more than a page 7 socialite pick for celebrity pages tomorrow and forgotten soon after,” he shrugged. “I wasn’t front page news, ever.”

“You just came back from the dead, we were both front page news,” she countered bluntly.

“Old news,” he shrugged. “Come on, library, that’s where B hides the good stuff!”

“Is it better than the whiskey sour from the party?” she asked as she slipped off the heels, finally. Her feet nearly wept for joy, she moaned in delight at the loss of the heels. Then yelped as she was pulled along by Jason.

“Way better, I’ll take those,” he snatched her heels from her then.

“Thank Azar I no longer have to wear those evil monstrosities,” she sighed.

“They can’t be that bad, girls wear them all the time.”

“Women must be masochists, because that was a special brand of hell which would have men weeping like babies.” She reveled in feeling the carpet on her sore feet and she kept her skirts in hand as she walked with Jason.

“Huh, I don’t want to know, or find out,” he decided.

“Probably for the best. Now that Kori’s gotten me to wear heels she’ll be pushing them on me,” Raven sighed.

“Here,” he pulled open the doors for the library which had her walking in, and she smiled as she dropped her skirts and walked to the shelves. Jason seemed to be on a quest for something, and he reappeared with it.

“Here we are, Dalmore 62 Single Highland Malt Scotch,” Jason's face took on a sardonic grin. “Not the most expensive shit, but B owns all these. They are delicious.”

“Mmm, do I want to know how much that costs?” she asked.

“Don’t ask questions, little bird, let us just pour some of this and savor this fine ass liquor. And get you drunk where you can’t be mugged, mauled, attacked, or raped,” he decided as he walked over to a desk and produced some sniffers.

“You do realize I am a demon, and am able to take care of myself, right?”

“You, my queen, are the most badass of badasses that I have ever met, however, you still are a girl. You’re my friend, and I happen to care a lot about your safety as you are currently powerless. So, I would prefer it if you got drunk somewhere where you’re safe and nothing can happen to you,” he clarified as he handed her a sniffer.

Raven took it and thought his words over carefully as she eyed him over.

“That’s... reasonable,” she decided.

“I thought so too, now cheers, and you savor this little bird,” he said as they clinked sniffers. Raven slowly brought it up to her lips as she took a sip and paused. It was good, burn and all, it was so good, she lifted it up to eye the dark amber liquid.

“I see how humans become alcoholics, this is good,” she decided.

“Right, now, what shall we read?” Jason asked. Raven walk away from him as she started eyeing the shelves, keeping the whiskey in hand. No more socializing, just her and a book; it sounded like heaven right now.

* * *

 

Damian scowled a bit as he glowered at where Jason and Raven had disappeared. Jon snickered a bit.

“Why didn’t they act different!?” he demanded.

“Because it doesn’t work that way,” Drake stated, magically appearing from wherever he’d been hiding which had Damian glaring at him.

“Why Not!?” he grounded out. It worked in all the books and movies! So why hadn’t it worked here and now! These two blind imbeciles couldn’t be so oblivious to the obvious that they had missed it!

“Because it doesn’t work that way,” Dick said walking over and smiling.

Damian frowned.

* * *

 

Rose chuckled from where she leaned on a column, after having seen the kiss and Jason’s quick exit with Raven. It was amusing, it really was. However she was also a bit more knowledgeable about Jason than the others and what she had seen wasn’t magic, but it was important.

“Did you get it?” she asked looking up at her date.

“Yeah, I got it, you owe me though,” Hosun grumbled as he tugged at his tie.

“So long as you got it,” she decided as she stood and took his arm. “I think it’s time we leave.”

“Yeah, before your dad kills me.”

* * *

 

 He had shattered the flute in his hand when that interloper had kissed the woman who’d be his wife. He’d seen red, and honestly, if he didn’t happen to have to be professional he’d have snatched Raven away with him.

Angela hadn’t borne that beauty only for her potential to be squandered.

However, he could outwait Trigon’s only daughter. Discarding his flute he grabbed his coat and bidding his adieus to the staff he walked to his car.

Patience.

He would need patience to get Raven, but she would be his.

* * *

 

Garfield had balked seeing that kiss. Not even he had been able to get Raven’s kiss in public.

But more shocking was the fact she hadn’t slapped Jason the moment Jason was done and dragged her off. Gar had to admit that was ballsy, but it also meant he wouldn’t be talking to Raven until tomorrow. Which was a shame because he really wanted to talk to her!

Looking over at Tara he looked away, he couldn’t do this any longer!

But he couldn’t discard her either, which had him faking a smile before he walked over to her.

* * *

 

He had watched with interest at this development.

Jason had kissed the girl, and that was an interesting development. Slade wasn’t sure how it would effect his plans, but no doubt it would. Which could either be an unforeseen hazard or a weapon to his advantage.

He had refrained calling in his favor with Jason Todd, but now, now he was interested in using it to get out of this unsavory alliance.

Looking over to Jade he saw her grabbing her fur coat to leave, she shot him a look as she took the arm of their partner which had him nodding.

Come tomorrow, either way, this would end.

* * *

 

Jason was comfortable leaving Raven where she was. She was stretched out by the fire with a book and the scotch, and she didn’t look like she was moving or going to be move any time soon. Which had him setting aside his sniffer as he walked out of the library soundlessly.

He had some business to attend to, now that the little bird was safely tucked away in the heart of the Manor and no one would be getting to her without all the security going off. People did not simply wander the home of Bruce Wayne, no, B would never allow it.

“You actually kissed her!” Tim sputtered when Jason walked into the hall.

“Yeah,” he answered absently. The kiss hadn’t been all bad, it’d actually been a bit more than he intended, but that was beside the point.

“I didn’t think you were actually going to kiss her!” Tim sputtered.

“What’d you think I was going to do?” Jason demanded.

“Like kiss her cheek or something,” Tim admitted.

“Kissing her cheek wouldn’t work as the brat would likely take offense and push more. This way, he got what he wanted, and we can draw him out then turn the tables on you idiots,” Jason deduced for Tim.

“Oh.”

“Anything else?” Jason asked as they were both now walking for the Cave’s private, secret entrance.

“Was it a good kiss?” Tim asked.

“Gentlemen never kiss and tell,” Jason quoted Alfred then and Tim balked, then snickered.

“You need to tell that to Dick,” Tim decided.

“Fuck No! Dickhead can’t even keep it in his pants without announcing to the world what it was like,” Jason snapped.

“So what did Rose think of this little escapade?” Tim asked.

“What does Rose have to do with this?”

“She was there tonight, I saw you talking with her.”

“Rose is nothing but an occasional pain in the ass.”

“But you sleep with her.”

“So?”

“I don’t get you,” Tim decided.

“Replacement, there is nothing to get, Rose and I sleep together or try to kill each other. Now I’d really prefer it if you, Dickhead, and the demon spawn stopped obsessing about it!” Jason snapped.

“B is curious too.”

“Curiosity will kill the Bat,” Jason warned as they walked down the stairs of the Cave. It was bad enough that people other than Raven knew about Rose, but now Tim, Dick, and Damian were prying into his and Rose’s thing. Not to mention if Bruce stuck his nose into it… Jason shuddered at the horror of the mere thought.

Rose was a fuck.

Nothing more.

Didn’t the Bats get that? Also, since when did his private life matter to them? Not that he had much of a private life, but it was **_private_** for a reason.

“So, what are you doing in the Cave?”

“I want to check out something, Rose was here, that probably means Slade was too,” Jason admitted.

* * *

 

Donna walked from the party, vastly amused with what had caused so much discourse through the party, and a slice of cake in her hands.

She did not know much about man’s world, but they had strange customs. She paused when she felt the presence behind her which had her turning coldly to glare at the intruder.

“This Wing is off limits,” Donna snapped, moving her black skirts away.

“I apologize, I must have taken a wrong turn,” the tall man said smoothly. Donna’s fingers tightened on the plate of cake in her hands. His silver blonde hair and blue eyes were startling to her but she remained calm about it.

“You should return to the party.”

“What about you? Are you not a party guest?” he asked.

“I am a guest of the family,” she replied icily.

“Ah, you’re an Amazon,” he said.

“Yes, now I advise you return to the party,” she stated.

“I’m off. It was a pleasure to meet you…?” he started.

“Donna, Princess Donna Troy,” she replied haughtily.

“Bill Wintergreen,” he suppled.

“Well, leave now Bill Wintergreen, this is not your home,” she said.

“I’ll see you again, Donna,” he smiled as he turned to walk off, and Donna frowned. She did not understand the world of man, still, she turned back to walk for Roy’s room. Lightly rapping the door when she arrived she walked in at his grunt.

The redhead blearily opened his green eyes which had her smiling as she walked to him.

“I know you did not attend the party, but this was delicious,” she said walking to him as she offered the cake.

He roused himself up, his hands were shaky as he reached for the plate. “Thanks,” he managed taking it to his lap.

“Of course.” She looked at his tattoos then, there were two on his upper arms which had her attention. “What are their meaning?”

“Hm?”

“The tattoos,” she said sitting on his bed.

“Oh… uh… I don’t really know. I was drunk when I got them,” he admitted. There was a blush on his face which she thought was adorable

“I see,” she mused.

“Thanks for the cake,” he said shakily.

“Of course, I should go, the party is dying down,” she smiled as she stood. “Oh, your parent was here tonight.”

“Oliver?” Roy blinked.

“Yes, he and his date were here, they wanted to see you, I believe Bruce held them off.”

“Uh…” he looked scared then as his shaking increased.

“Do not worry, I believe that Bruce will speak to you before you must see him,” she shrugged.

“Great,” he scowled.

“For now, eat the cake and rest,” she ordered as she stood.

“Hey, Donna, thanks, you know, for being nice,” he smiled a bit.

“Of course, Roy,” she softly replied, ignoring the warmth of her heart as she walked out of the room.

 Something had her jolting as she looked down the halls, the shadows were still though as she walked to her room then. She couldn’t shake the sense she was being watched though.

* * *

 

It was two in the morning when Jason gave up watching the security, and social media feeds and decided to go get Raven from the library. Either she’d be passed out drunk, or so absorbed in the book she hadn’t notice him leave; he was kind of hoping for the latter than the former. The other residents of the Manor were either asleep or patrolling; neither of which was surprising, and Jason found himself awake and alone. Now though he was a bit tired as his body caved to the demand sleep.

Which was why the sight which greeted him when he opened the library door just about had his jaw dropping.

He supposed he only had himself to blame, really, the sight that greeted him was a startling one. It had his mouth going a bit dry as he just stared. Raven dropped her garters, with obvious distaste as she stood there now in nothing by some lace black bikini panties. The tights, and garters, hell, even something that looked like a bra was scattered about, with her dress, and an empty bottle of the scotch. Raven was muttering something or other about how hot it was, and she had a sniffer in her hand. He just stared at a few tats that he was about ninety-eight percent certain he was never supposed to know about. Ever.

There were runes written on her, one he recognized for protection and it was carved into the curve of her ribs. He’d been around Constantine to pick up a few things. There was a large pentagram in a circle with other runes; which he didn’t know; marring her left shoulder. A small raven tat was on the curve of her left him, towards the front, which had him realizing she was turning to him.

“Uh… Raven?” he blinked; literally trying to look away but unable to. Her black hair fell around her, and her dark eyes wide and serious with a drunk flush on her cheeks. But her face, it was a mask of apathy as she brought the scotch to her lips.

 In hindsight, getting the most powerful (currently powerless) interdimensional demon on the planet drunk might not have been his best idea. Especially not when she apparently looked like **_that_**.

“Hmm?” she hummed lazily.

“Where are your clothes?” he asked.

“They were hot,” she slurred and turned to walk over to him. He spotted another tattoo of runes under her right breast, he wondered if this was a sorcerer thing as she came over to him. “I like being drunk!” she announced as she knocked her drink back with ease.

“Yeah, I’m rethinking drunk you,” he decided as he took the sniffer from her and set it aside.

“So free!” she mused with a rather girly spin of delight. He caught her when she stumbled, and she grabbed his arms as she swayed a bit to stay upright. FUCK! He had not thought this through! Nope, uh-uh, not a good plan!

“Easy little bird,” he said as he kept her upright for a moment. Then he scooped her up, best to get her to her room.

“You have nice thighs,” she blurted it out which had him almost dropping her as he just staring dumbly at her.

“Oookay…” he managed. “Never letting you drink again,” he muttered. Now that he knew what sort of drunk she was he wasn’t sure he should ever get her drunk. Ever again. She was the striping, happy, cuddly drunk.

“Powers! No Drinking!” she whispered conspiratorially to him with a slight mischievous grin.

“Hmmm… Awesome Cosmic Power, itty-bitty-freedom?” he teased; he couldn’t resist teasing her, even if she was drunk.

“Who told you!?” she demanded with her eyes widening a bit. Then she was snickering like he’d just been let in on some great secret. “No fun, No drinking, No drugs, No compromising emotions! But No Powers! I’m free!” she giggled as she threw her arms up. Jason nearly dropped her from her antics as she wrapped herself around his shoulders.

“You’re huge, by the way, I mean **_HUGE!_** Why are you a giant? Dick said you were small baby, now you’re giant!” she asked innocently.

“A dunk in the Lazarus Pit does that,” he mused dryly.

“You’re too good to me,” she yawned then nuzzled herself against his shoulder and sighed. “Insufferable, but good to me.”

“Uh… Rae?” he tried to rouse her a bit when he got to her door, opening the room and kicking the door shut behind him.

“Hmm?” she hummed.

“You gotta let go, queen,” he said as he got to the bed.

“No. ‘m comfy,” she slurred. “And I like you’re heart.”

“Rae,” he sighed. Add clingy to the list of things the demoness was when drunk.

“Shut up, you got me drunk!” she growled a bit which had him sighing and just turning so he fell onto the bed, kicking off his shoes.

“At least you’re not a horny drunk,” he muttered as he got comfortable.

Raven was humming some catchy song and there was another giggle from her as she clutched his shirt.

“I’m bad,” she snickered. “You make me break all the rules!” she was suddenly up, and straddling his stomach. Her lips were turned in a very un-Raven like smile as she stared down at him with large dark eyes. His eyes flicked to her breasts (sue him! He was a guy, and his best friend was apparently a hot demon with a nice set of tits, he would look but he wasn’t going to touch).

“What rules?” he asked. Carefully he placed his hands on her hips so she didn’t topple over. Human/powerless Raven was a bit of a minor klutz, and with her being drunk he didn’t want her toppling off the bed to hurt herself.

“Azar gave me all these rulez,” she whined. “They were boring! I don’t like rules! Too conforming.” Then she smiled a bit.

“Rules were made to be broken,” he reasoned.

“No! Not by me!” she shook her head vehemently, which all those loose curls cascading all around them.

“Are you an angel or a demon?” he demanded, tightening his grip a bit on her hips when she squirmed.

“I’m a demon,” she whispered leaned down close to him, her mouth a whisper away from his. “I’m a very bad, dangerous, drunk demon!” she giggled.

“Then you aren’t required to be good,” he said carefully. And he looked anywhere but at those lips. She was his best friend! His mind screamed. He was not fucking this up! No! It wasn’t happening! No matter how fucking hot she was!

Raven was suddenly snuggling up against him again and she seemed to be… purring? Yes, that was the best description of the hum he was hearing. “Jason?”

“Hm?” he managed, focusing on his breathing and keeping his hands on her hips only.

“Would you kiss me? For real?” she asked.

“What!?” his eyes snapped open and Raven’s eyes were large and earnest.

“I wanna know what it’s like. Gar’s kisses sucked, and the mistletoe kiss was nice,” she said it so disarmingly innocent, that he just stared as she sat up over him.

Jason didn’t think this through, he knew that as he caught the back of her head and pulled her down to him carefully.

This was a terrible idea, a horrible one, one he shouldn’t even indulge in after that mistletoe kiss. However, it was also a deliciously tempting idea, and he was never one to run away from his bad ideas.

Her mouth was soft, which would have been surprising, but this was Raven. She was soft, despite her appearance of apathy, she was soft. Her lips parted with a gasp, and he didn’t hesitate as he deepened the kiss. His hand tangling in her black hair as he kept a firm grip on her hips. Raven’s fingers fisted in his dress shirt as she slowly responded.

Raven tasted of whiskey, danger, sweet ice and shadows.

It was thrilling, it was addictive, it was forbidden, and it was his last time ever kissing her, so he’d make it fucking count. He ravished her as he pulled her closer. It felt endless.

He pulled back slowly, gasping for air, before he got carried away and did a hell of a lot more than kiss the girl. **She was drunk** , **_she was innocent_** , **he was not carrying this on**. Especially because she happened to be his best and only friend ** _. He Was Not Fucking This Up._**

Raven had hooded dark eyes, and a mysterious little smile on her lips.

“That’s a kiss,” she giggled.

“That’s a kiss,” he agreed monotonously.

“I’m not going to remember this sober?”

“You might.” He tucked a stubborn strand of her hair back.

“Mmm… I like kisses.” She yawned as she laid on his chest again. He groaned as he fell back into the pillows.

“If I’d known you were the stripy, happy, cuddly, demanding drunk, I’d have never gotten you drunk,” he grumbled.

“No powers, never gonna be drunk again,” she slurred sleepily.

“True,” he agreed, and he hear her hum lightly and felt her go lax. She was sound asleep, and he sighed in exasperation, but dropped his arms around her to keep her from toppling off the bed. Closing his eyes, he internally reminded himself she was his best friend and he was **_NOT_** fucking this up.

The little cooler on his chest grumbled and he yanked the covers over both them.


	20. Definitely  the Naughty List, Yup, Definitely

There was a slamming, pounding, head splitting, mind numbing, skull slamming, and head rolling headache in her head. She was also limply sprawled over something very, very hard and warm, it felt comfortable, and smelled like whiskey, and something she couldn’t place but was comfortingly familiar. Her nose twitched as she burrowed into the heat and sighed contently. Slowly there was a shiver oozing up her spine which had her squirming a bit as she squeezed her eyes against the sunlight slipping into the room. grumbling she scooted down when there was something strong on her hips.

“Little bird, friends we may be, but I swear to God if you don’t stop moving you won’t like the consequences,” a tenor voice rasped.

Wincing against the sun Raven peeled an eye open as she looked up at who she was with.

“Jason?” she whispered, her mouth felt like cotton and tasted sour. Was the world supposed to be this bright? Also, why was he here?

“Yeah, now can you get off me, now,” he ordered sharply as the hands released her hips. Slowly Raven moved as she sat up. Blinking at where she was, then bracing herself on his chest as hands again caught her hips.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. It felt like a jackhammer was drilling into her temple then as she rubbed her eyes.

“Enjoying the view,” he answered dryly.

Raven frowned in confusion as she tried to rid her eyes of sleep. Jason’s hands were still very strongly gripping her hips, and they felt hot. Really hot. Why were they so hot? And rough? They felt like they were on her skin. Slowly she looked down, then she just frowned. Jason was looking right at her, and she lifted her eyes to his as she frowned.

“We will never speak of this,” she warned lowly.

“Agreed, now, can you please get off of me,” he said lowly as he lifted himself up, his face was close to hers. “I have matters to attend to that do not need you on me!”

“Mmm,” she hummed as she wobblily rolled off him, dragging the sheet with her as she curled up beneath it. She heard him get up and a loud click. Raven just relaxed, whether she fell asleep again was beyond her, what she knew was that there was a hand on her shoulder which had her reluctantly peeking back out of the covers she had cocooned herself in.

“Come on,” a voice coaxed.

“What is it?” she asked with a yawn.

“Tylenol, some water, then I got clothes for you and I’ll serve you some greasy food,” he said. Raven looked at his bright, aquamarine eyes staring at her.

“Why am I naked?” she slurred as she took the pills.

“Because you are the happy, cuddly, demanding, strippy kind of drunk,” he answered in annoyingly happy tone as she took the meds and water. His tone had her moaning as she rolled away from him.

“I don’t remember,” she groaned.

“Probably for the best,” he said. Raven just decided that Jason was right in this matter which had her dragging the covers over her head again.

“Did I do something stupid?” she mumbled.

“Yeah, but only I know about it,” he sounded deviously happy about this. “Leverage on you my queen!”

“Fuck off,” she mumbled.

“Come on, up, up, up, grease will cure what ails you,” he said.

“I think you seen enough of me,” she slurred.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before, though I didn’t know you had tats,” he mused.

“You tell anyone and the moment I got my powers back I will end you,” she warned as she kept the covers over her head.

“Come on Rae,” he yanked the covers back which had her yelping as she wrapped her arms around her breasts and rolled away from him.

“You evil bastard!” she gasped.

“I got waffles,” he offered.

“I hate you,” she mumbled as she heard something dropped onto the bed. Cracking her eye again she looked at what he had dropped on the bed. “You saw me naked,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, but you still got your panties. So not completely.”

“You ever mention this, to anyone, I’ll gut you,” she mumbled as she reached for the clothes.

“Oh face it, you’ve caught me in way worse situations,” he shrugged.

“Not the point, I don’t get into trouble, I’m the good one,” she said as he turned around and she pulled the shirt on then lifted up the pants. Sweats, she stood on shaky legs, her ankles felt wonky, her feet were screaming in agony and her knees give out as she sat on the bed then. “Help,” she sighed.

“Am I being blasted into hell?” he asked.

“Mmm… Undecided,” she admitted. He just rolled his eyes, and it was now she noticed he was shirtless. Not an uncommon sight, but still, she scowled at him as he walked over to her.

“Alright, lift your feet,” he ordered.

“I feel like lead,” she mumbled. “Am I supposed to feel like lead?” she asked.

“Little bird, lets just get pants on you then we’ll worry about the lead feeling,” Jason decided as he helped her up, the pants slid over her hips. He had the strings tied tight for her which had her humming a bit as she swayed.

“I don’t like this feeling, I feel like I’m dying,” she mumbled.

“That’s the hang over, I’m told they are no fun,” he said as he stood before her.

“Mmm, I’m never getting drunk again,” she yawned.

“That’ll be for the best,” he said as he grabbed her shoulders. “You good?”

“I don’t think so,” she admitted.

“Perfect,” he sounded smug.

“I hate you,” Raven mumbled.

“Awe, you love me,” Jason countered.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Yeah, more than likely, come on,” he pulled her along. Raven seriously felt like cement and lead. It wasn’t fun, she would rather die. Again.

* * *

 

Sluggish, sleepy, hungover Raven stumbled after him, and he released her hand when they got to the stairs. Raven glared at the stairs, and almost childishly she seemed to be pouting as her eyes narrowed on them.

Jason had woken up with a start this morning. Whatever he had been dreaming about had him slightly aroused, and Raven sleeping on him had not been helping. Which was why his first and main priority was to get Raven off of him. Getting Raven off of him was easy, after he had gotten the eyeful, getting himself righted this morning was not. Whatever the fuck had been plaguing his mind was not letting up. Fucking hormones! Jason didn’t get it! It wasn’t like he had wet dreams or anything regularly. He didn’t have these problems normally. However, this morning, he had had a fucking problem, and Raven was not helping.

But now, everything was back to normal, especially right now, as he looked over at his very ash colored best friend as she slanted over the edge of the stairs. Whatever had been bothering his hormones wasn’t there now, and he smirked in amusement as Raven swayed.

“I think I should die,” she mumbled.

“We’ve been there, pretty sure we both agreed that it sucked.”

“Mmm…I hate you,” she repeated.

“No, you don’t,” he countered.

Jason chuckled in vast amusement at her expression as she glowered.

“Stairs,” she muttered.

He just scooped her up, she squeaked as she caught his shoulders.

“You’re evil,” she muttered into his neck.

“A bit.” He set her down at the bottom of the stairs and she glowered a bit more as she swayed.

“Diabolical. There better be waffles,” she muttered.

“Yeah, come along,” he pulled her along. Raven swayed a bit and he was seriously amused with her being hung over. Not a sight he had ever thought to see. Then again, he didn’t think he was ever going to see her naked either…

“Why’s everything so bright? It’s never this bright! Gotham is always gloom,” she muttered, rubbing her eyes again as she staggered after him. Jason just shrugged; he didn’t have an answer for that one.

“Never getting you drunk again,” Jason repeated.

“My liver thanks you for the consideration,” she muttered. “But I got me drunk. I’m never getting me drunk again.”

“Probably for the best,” he agreed. “Don’t know who else you’d strip for.”

“Mmm, one time thing… You tell anyone I kill you,” she warned.

“Rae, I think we are at the point of this friendship where threatening me with death to keep a secret is juvenile,” Jason teased.

“Just avowing that,” she yawned.

“Well, it’s ruined with you looking like a half dead bird who was stuck out in the rain too long and smell like whiskey. I’m surprised you haven’t thrown up,” he admitted. He had seen Dick, Wally, and Roy all hung over the morning after one of their antics when he’d been younger, and they had all been puking their guts out.

“Demon,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand as she walked with him.

“You’re going to have to explain that one, one day,” he said stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Jason, I lived in Hell for three years, you don’t want to know what my stomach can handle and not throw up,” she stated solemnly. Her statement had him lifting a brow as she walked past him.

“Now I’m curious,” he said.

“Mmm. Curiosity killed the Bat, curious about what? And Jason, what did you do to the little bird? She looks like death warmed over!” Selina announced walking in with Helena, and Lian. Raven scowled.

“I got drunk, I don’t think I’m doing that again.”

“So you’re the reason Bruce is down an expensive bottle of liquor,” Selina chuckled.

“My liver hates me, I’m never getting drunk again.”

“She hasn’t thrown up yet, so color me impressed because she claims to having never had a drink before.”

“I’m impressed.” Selina said grabbing a towel. “Jason, here, and make her bottle, I’m feeding Helena. Rae, you’re coming to sit with me, before you collapse.”

“I was promised waffles,” she slurred.

“They’ll be ready in a bit, go sit,” Jason said as he took Lian with ease. The baby stared at him with eyes too serious for a baby and he had to admit she was very cute.

Bruce appeared rumpled with Terry on his hip as he grabbed coffee. Jason guess Alfred was getting the rest the brood.

“Jay!”

“Duck,” he replied as he started making up Lian’s bottle. Terry laughed, Bruce grimaced, and Jason smirked seeing another bruise blooming on Bruce’s cheek. Patrol hadn’t been smooth apparently. He was kind of happy he was bound to Raven and couldn’t leave. No patrols meant no Bats which meant no stress for him. Which made him happy. The Pit wasn’t settling down, but it wasn’t as close to the surface now, that green tinge hazing his view was now on the edges and he could ignore it.

“Harley and Ivy both demanded papers claiming to be your mother, Raven,” Bruce said. Jason smirked, he could see Raven balking even with his back to her.

“Ah, Master Jason I see you are preparing Miss Lian’s bottle,” Alfred said.

“Yup, you wanna take over and I’ll prep waffles?” Jason said.

“Of course,” Alfred held his arms out and if Jason didn’t know better he’d think the older man was greedy about holding the child as he took her. But that wasn’t Jason business as he selected the materials he’d need and started making the batter.

Dick walked in with a blooming black eye, Damian was limping, and Tim looked like he had dislocated his shoulder and had a hasty relocating of the shoulder.

“Fine, they adopt me and Victor, just make it dimmer!” Raven hissed as she was rubbing her eyes again.

“Friend Raven!”

“And quieter!” she whined.

Jason snickered a bit more at her misery.

* * *

 

“They’re all set up,” Jade remarked as she sat on her perch. Slade turned to face the assassin; one of the greatest assassins outside of the League of Assassins. Now Jade looked at him with intense eyes as they looked at the feeds he had spent most of the evening setting up.

“Yes, the Manor is impressive,” Slade admitted. Even more so because he had slipped it right under Batman’s nose. Now they only had to strike. Strike when they were vulnerable and let Raven’s wrath take it’s course in freeing him and Jade from their contract with Prometheus.

Slade was all for raining destruction, but Prometheus sought anarchy, and Slade didn’t stand for that. Because in anarchy, there was no enemy, and no enemy made a mercenary’s job difficult. Getting a true job that is. Jobs where the clients lived to pay.

“Are you sure about this?” Jade asked.

“She is the most powerful Titan, and possibly being on this planet. He will not have the calculations to handle that power,” Slade predicted coldly. He hadn’t, even with her father’s aid, and she’d only been a fourteen year old girl at the time. No doubt Raven had grown into her powers some more, and she was nineteen, it was time to test these powers.

If he was right, she was a lot more than Prometheus could handle. Picking up his phone he texted Tara then.

It was time for the blonde to take a side.

* * *

 

Tara sat at the edge of her bed, Gar was sprawled out over the bed with a sheet on his hips as he drooled in a pillow. She thought it adorable.

Smiling a bit to herself she mused his green hair when her phone buzzed.

_-Tonight, 1800, Pier 57, warehouse 39_

Tara bit her lip then and she looked down at Garfield as she shut the message. After tonight Raven would be dad and her hold on Garfield would no longer matter. The witch’s control would be over. Tara was so tired of Raven being between herself and Garfield. And there would be nothing Raven could do to stop her from ending her life.

Tara really only hoped that Slade would be as ruthless as he had been the first time and destroy the witch this time. It would be just her and Gar, and nothing between them anymore. No more Raven, no more problems for her relationship.

Standing she dropped her sheet as she started getting ready. She didn’t want to be here when Gar woke, because she didn’t want him to know of her part in this. Once showered and her hair dried she dressed, then she picked up her boots, her key and walked out of the hotel.

It was Gotham, she was certain she could entertain herself long enough to make it to six o’clock this evening before they moved.

Tara could be patient when the patience was thrust upon her, or the goal was what she was seeking.

* * *

 

“The tracker isn’t moving, think he found it?” Hosun asked her.

“Doubtful,” she muttered as she swirled her whiskey in it’s glass. She didn’t think her father’s arrogance would allow him to notice the tracker. And even if it did, she doubted he would notice the back up she had slipped onto him when they had been dancing.

“So, you and that Jason fellow…” Hosun said.

“Drop it.”

“I saw how you looked when he kissed that girl,” Hosun said softly.

“Mmm,” Rose nodded. Oh, she and Jason weren’t anything but a fuck, however there was that twist in her gut seeing him kiss a girl he actually cared about. Because the last girl he had cared about had died because of her. Rose pulled the old photo she had kept from everyone and held it up for Hosun.

“You tell anyone, and I’ll kill you myself, you won’t have to worry about daddy dearest doing you in, Hosun,” she warned icily. “None of us pick this life, those of us who aren’t in the LoA, JL, or a supervillain, there’s a lot of us in the grey. Jason, Jason was as black as you could go at times, and he could still be the hero.

“Now, I’m going to say we’re all presented with this opportunity, to leave the life. Drop it all, never be involved again, and very few of us ever take that opportunity. I don’t know what spurred his moment, I know he took it,” Rose said as Hosun reached over to the photo.

“Three and a half years ago; he took it, I even helped him get out. He enrolled in Princeton, he had a studio apartment, he had started making acquaintances, he met a girl, and he was normal.”

“What happened?”

“She died,” Rose said softly. “He probably cared, he didn’t love her, but he probably cared, and she was normal, completely and boringly normal. She was killed in a terror attack. The Nice attack, she was killed in the crossfire, he took five bullets trying to get to her.”

“How do you know this?”

“Because I was the one who got the call from the hospital, he had my number, and he had that photo and a wallet.

“I sat with him in the hospital, while he recovered, he cursed me, hated my guts, and that was okay. When he was well enough I handed him the file that had an entire terror organization crumbling within a month. I might not like Jason, I might not ever like him, but I respect him. I respect what he can do. And I respect what he can do for the people he cares about.”

“So why did you… last night?” Hosun asked.

“Because this time Hosun, he cares, and that’s a lot more than a possibility of caring like last time. And I care because… because I owe him,” she said softly taking the photo back. She cared because the last time he cared, it was her fault he had lost it and come back to the life. Because she hadn’t stopped Nice from happening.

* * *

 

Jason put a plate of bribery before the little bird who blearily looked them over, inspecting it like it was of some importance before she tiredly started eating it. Alfred continued prepping the rest of the breakfast and Jason continued making waffles.

“So… that kiss…” Dick started in on him, sliding gracelessly to the island where Jason was cooking.

Jason said nothing; he was actively trying not to think about the kiss or the trouble the Bats were brewing, he was a bit more focused on Slade. Slade had slipped into the party, undetected by the Bats, but for what purpose. It was bothering Jason, there’d been no trouble last night; not even from Rose. Rose, who was a magnet for trouble, hadn’t caused trouble. Which was something that was bothering him.

Frowning a bit he thought it over carefully, there were two options with whatever Slade was up to.

One, Slade had completed whatever he was planning to do, whatever that was, it would come to bite them in the ass. Because if there was one thing Slade Wilson was good at it was planning, contingencies, and more planning. And until the unwitting prey stepped into Slade’s trap, the prey rarely knew it was being hunted. The problem here was that Jason was aware that he was being hunted; as was Raven and the Bats.

Two, Slade had been scoping out the layout; also possible and problematic. Slade was a strategist which would create problems because now Slade had the lay of the land and probably a thousand strategies for attack. Fucking Metas! No one could keep up with them, even if one was a Bat and thought outside of all the boxes, inside of the boxes, and in the extra dimension of the boxes.

“Little wing?” Dick waved his hand in front of Jason’s face which had his eyes flicking up to Dick’s.

“Call me that again, I’ll stab you,” Jason warned.

“Please do not spill blood in my kitchen Master Jason,” Alfred said primly.

“Sorry Al,” Jason said as he pulled the waffle.

“What’s on your mind?” Dick asked.

“He was like this last night when he went down to the computers,” Tim said.

“Slade was here, and B’s security missed it,” Jason grounded out. Now Bruce and Selina looked up. Raven looked like she had fallen asleep with her head propped up on her fist, Damian balked, Tim wasn’t fazed at all, Alfred just blinked, and Dick looked as if he had swallowed a toad. Thankfully the girls weren’t here yet to make a big scene.

“You’re sure?” Bruce asked calmly.

“Rose was here,” Jason answered icily as he glared at his mentor. Jason didn’t like this, he didn’t like it at all. Nothing good ever came of Slade being so close or right under their noses when they didn’t know.

* * *

 

Bruce stared at Jason for a long, hard minute as his second eldest son held his gaze with a perfect poker face and fierce glare. Jason had never had that expression on his face before and now, now Jason’s face was schooled into hard lines but no expression. It was unnerving.

“I am aware,” Bruce admitted, he had permitted Rose’s party crashing, mostly because he was curious about her coming here.

“Mmm, she only follows Slade, so that means he was here last night.”

“She could have been following you,” Tim pointed out. Jason snorted at the thought; which had Bruce more concerned about his son and his relationships; again. But that was a matter he could talk about after he had this talk.

“Why not? That harlot is clearly attached to you,” Damian sneered before Bruce could speak. There was a dangerous thwack where Damian's plate broke and a knife was there vibrating where it was buried in the table now.

“One more time kid and I swear to God I don’t care who trained you, I will have you black and blue before you can react. You don’t talk about women that way,” Jason snarled it fierce enough to have Damian shrinking a bit. Bruce sipped his coffee, the kitchen was dead silent for a long moment as there was a glaring contest between Jason and Damian.

“Fine.”

“And Rose wouldn’t follow me,” Jason said coldly.

“How could you be sure?” Bruce asked.

“How about actually knowing her?” Jason asked sardonically.

“Back to Slade, what would he have been doing here?” Tim asked seriously.

“Either laying a trap or getting the lay of the land,” Dick deduced rapidly with a sour expression. Bruce said nothing, again, because he was aware of what had transpired between Slade and Dick. Not that he had intervened; though he sometimes wondered if he should have. Jason nodded coldly as he made the plate of waffles.

“I will look into it,” Bruce said tiredly as he felt Terry gnawing his fingers again.

“I already looked, I can’t find him in the city,” Jason stated.

“That’s what you were doing in the Cave!” Tim gasped.

Bruce frowned. He didn’t like his family being drawn into a conflict again. The A.R.G.U.S. debacle was still a fresh wound in him as they had gone after Jason and Damian, and no one had ever reigned Waller in. Now she was Raven’s prisoner until the demon had her powers back.

“I think he’s already laid the trap, whatever that is, and we’re just going to have to wait until it’s sprung,” Dick sighed.

“I hate waiting,” Jason muttered.

“Slade’s virtue is patience, but his weakness is his impatience,” Raven said. “He won’t wait, whatever the coming attack is, it’ll be sooner rather than later.”

“And what makes you say that?” Tim asked.

“Experience,” Raven answered dryly.

Bruce looked over at Dick and Jason; both who had sour expressions on their faces now. He was going to destroy Slade before Slade could harm his family, and that was a promise, Bruce made as he looked over his boys as the girls came stumbling into the kitchen then.


	21. Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes... You're Not Santa Claus!

Everything was in place.

Tonight, was the night as he looked down at the prison. Tonight, heroes would fall, and he would take the first step to destroying all the heroes. He would end them, end them all.

“The plan?” his companion questioned, and he turned to look at the assassins as they sat there.

“Tonight,” he rasped with glee. “The heroes will fall.”

“And how are we going to destroy them?” Slade asked coldly.

“We take the thing they treasure the most and destroy it,” he stated. “We take the children, let them be the examples to the world of Heroes of what is coming.”

“That’s not part of the deal,” Jade hissed, which had his head snapping over to her.

“The children die.”

“My Child Is There!” she growled, and he spun when she moved to grab her throat, she growled and struggled, he squeezed.

“Your child is a child of an Arrow, she dies,” he growled and threw the assassin across the room, she slammed into the wall as she bounced on the floor. “All The Heroes Fall. Starting with the Bats.”

“I don’t!” Jade started.

“Enough, we have to trust that Prometheus knows what he is doing, and trust in the plan,” Slade snapped. Which had Prometheus lifting his brow. He had never fully trusted Slade, but this was merely a means for an end. Once he had the Gem, it would be over for all Heroes, and the world would watch as their beloved heroes fell.

Starting with the deaths of the children.

* * *

 

Raven stood alone in her room looking at where the bind had been; the bond tying her to Jason. the runes, which should be littering her wrist, were no longer visible, even to her magic eyes. Which was a good sign, he was healed. But it had her sighing, it was three days to Christmas, and if he knew they were no longer bound here he would be gone in a second. She wasn’t foolish enough to think differently.

There was also was the matter of she knew the moment he left, before Christmas, Damian, Dick, Tim, Bruce, and Alfred would have her tracking him down and dragging him back to the Manor. Not that she would be of much use, but she did have a map of his favored safe houses. Raven sighed as she closed her eyes, after Christmas she’d tell him. For now, she would leave him with his family.

There was a honking horn as a red convertible and she blinked dumbly.

“Oh Dear Azar…” Raven gaped as she stared at the red car.

“ ** _RAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!_** ” Three voices shouted as her head rang, her hangover wasn’t gone, and she moaned as the bodies came tumbling into her room.

“ ** _WHAT THE HELL!?_** ” Victor’s boom could be heard, and Raven had no doubts that Bruce’s reaction.

“Raven!?” Tim stammered.

“I have **_NO_** idea what is going on!” Raven hissed to Tim when he swung her around, she stumbled right into Damian who was glaring, which had her jumping right into Jason.

“I’m not here!” Jason shoved her at Dick as he bolted for her closet and shut the door. The door was thrown open then and Victor stood there.

“Rae?” Victor bellowed.

“I didn’t do it!?” she shouted as she hid behind Dick then.

“B said something about you being adopted by these two lunatics! So what is going on!?” Victor demanded looming over her. Dick, Tim, and Damian had scattered then.

“Uh…I was hung over, I don’t know, I might have agreed to the adoption…” Raven backed away.

“Raven!”

“Please stop shouting!” She pleaded as she looked at Victor.

“After you, Ivy, Harley and I sort this out, I’m shooting the bozo hiding in your closet for getting your drunk,” Victor growled as he grabbed her. Raven stumbled after him, and sighed.

“AH! Little bird!” Harley squealed, bouncing at her when she and Vic entered the front foyer, Raven gasped as she was squeezed into a hug.

“Cat wasn’t kidding, you look like death warmed over,” Ivy observed.

“Yeah, some bozo got her drunk,” Victor chided glaring at her, Raven shrunk into Harley then.

“I’d like to point out I’m nineteen and have never done anything bad in my life,” Raven pointed out weakly.

“You were the coming apocalypse!” Vic pointed out.

“Aside from that,” Raven amended.

“Mmmhmm, you lucky I love you girl,” Vic said sharply.

“You poor baby!” Harley stroked her hair. “We’re keeping them!”

“Them?” Raven, Vic, and Ivy sputtered.

“Yeah, Ivy, we’re keeping THEM! Come on, we’re here to talk about this anyways!” Harley hauled her along. Raven just sighed and resigned herself to being a rag doll for the time being.

“Back up, the little bird is one thing, but them Harley!?” Ivy sputtered.

“What do you mean them!?” Vic managed.

“Oh come on, the little bird’s brother is adorable!”

“I’m twenty-five! I’m not getting adopted!” Victor stated icily.

“I’m nineteen!” Raven pointed out; again.

“Nineteen-smineteen! You now our baby,” Harley declared. “And that means the whole package!”

“Package!?” Ivy managed.

“Yup!” Harley bounced.

“Hear that Victor, we’re a package!” Raven teased, her big brother still gave her his ’I’m very disappointed in your decision making process and we will be talking about this when you are not affected by said horrible decision’.

Raven was doomed.

There was no escaping this. Raven knew that she was doomed. Victor’s lecture would be far worse than anything Azar could ever deliver. The lecture she had gotten from Vic after the first Trigon attack had sort of driven her down. This was just before Victor had blatantly announced that he was not losing his baby sister to no damn demon and she would never pull the loan gunman thing again or he’d make sure she wouldn’t sit for a month.

“So, are we getting moms, or aunts?” Vic demanded.

“MOMS!” Harley sang.

“I was not adopting a boy!” Ivy stated firmly.

“I didn’t need more moms!” Vic snapped.

“I didn’t want a son!” Ivy countered.

“Hungover! Can we please! Stop the yelling!” Raven pleaded.

“You are not off the hook for that Rae,” Vic warned.

“Who got you drunk?” Ivy demanded.

“I did normal stupid normal nineteen year old things!” Raven defended.

“You Are In Control Of The Cosmos!” Vic countered.

“I am normal! Normal!” Raven defended.

“You’re my baby, you’re extraordinary!” Harley stated. “As to gettin’ drunk; was it fun!?”

“I don’t remember it,” Raven admitted. She had slight memories of it which were blurred and that was probably for the best.

“Probably for the best,” Ivy said.

“I want to punch the bozo who got her drunk,” Victor growled.

“I’ll help!” Ivy decided.

“You should not help, because that means punching me!?” Raven yelped.

“No, I’m pretty sure that Jason is to blame, somehow,” Victor decided.

“Oh, most definitely, you noticed that too?” Ivy asked.

“If I didn’t happen to know for a fact they didn’t know each other six months ago, I’d swear they’d been neck deep in trouble all their lives,” Victor stated blandly. Raven stuck her tongue out at her brother only to have him pull a face at her.

“Fine, we’ll take the packaged deal, I like him,” Ivy decided.

“Wait a minute!” Vic protested.

“YAY!” Harley bounced. “I’ll get B to draw up the papers!”

“Give it up, we aren’t winning this,” Raven whispered to Vic as they both looked at Ivy and Harley.

“Fine,” Victor rolled his eye then and Raven smiled at her brother.

* * *

 

Dick walked back to his girlfriend, Kori was sleeping more as of late. Apparently, this was a normal occurrence for Tamaranians who were pregnant, Kori wasn’t worried about it.

“Mmm, Dick!” she purred as she stretched a bit and twisted to face him a bit more.

“Hey babe,” he smiled back as he came over to kiss her temple.

“We should tell my family,” he said sitting on the bed. Kori pulled herself up, her legs wrapping loosely around his hips as her arms slid around him.

“Mmm, I thought Christmas was our waiting point?” she questioned.

“I want to tell them now,” he admitted as he stared at her.

“Tomorrow,” she decided.

“Tomorrow?” he blinked.

“Yes, tomorrow, today, is right after the gala, let us rest!” she whined falling back on the bed. Her taunt belly had a more visible bump then, not much, but it was slight enough for his hand to slide over it and feel that life. That was his creation. That was their baby. He was in awe of that fact right then.

“Okay, tomorrow,” he smiled.

“Thank you, Dick,” she purred as her eyes took a heavy look like she was about to fall asleep then.

“I think Damian, Steph, Cass, and Tim are going to drag Jason into a snowball war,” Dick mused.

“Go join them, we are napping, and warm,” Kori said with a massive yawn.

“Be back in a bit!” Dick kissed her before he was up and changing.

* * *

 

Jason had ducked into Raven’s closet when seeing Harley and Ivy drive up to Wayne Manor, and now he was outside in his coats trying to figure out how to scape. Not that it was going to work; but it was worth a shot.

Dressed in his favored leather jacket he stood out in the snow as he let the icy sea’s winds ruffle his hair and he scanned the horizon. There was a splat of something on the back of his head which had him stiffening.

“We Got Dibs On Jay!” a bright voice announced before he was slammed into by a small force, which had him twisting around to catch the force and swing it onto it’s feet. He found himself attacked by a flurry of blonde hair and purple, then there was an overshadow of black which had him barely having a chance to shout before he was crashing into the snow.

“There is a war,” Cass stated solemnly.

“Of what? Breaking me?” Jason groaned shoving the small woman off him.

“I dibs Jason!” Tim whined.

“You’re on the boy’s team Tim!” Stephanie announced.

“Then he should be on our team fatgirl,” Damian ticked, and Jason propped himself up in the snow.

“Jay’s ours! You got Dick!” Stephanie shouted.

“Why am I on the girls’ team? Then again, why am I involved at all!?” He demanded.

“It’s a matter of honor little brother,” Cass decided.

“Since when was I the little brother!?” he sputtered.

“Come on!” Stephanie grabbed his wrist and made a determined drag of his dead weight. She was surprisingly strong for such a tiny girl; then again, she was a Bat. Rolling to his feet he stood and dusted the snow off, another snowball hit the back of his head with a wet splat which had him stiffening as he turned to the offender.

“Oh come on Jaybird! It’ll be fun! Or are you scared you’ll lose?” Dick called back.

“This Means War Dickhead,” Jason growled lowly.

“Anyone else think we’re totally dead?” Tim piped up.

“Useless Drake,” Damian sneered. “He’s surrounded by fatgirl and Cain. We win.”

Jason shoved his hands in his pockets then turned to the girls.

“No rocks, no killing, but this is a matter of honor little brother.” Cass decided solemnly.

“Agreed, we’re going to kick their asses!” Stephanie grinned deviously.

“Let’s show them girl power,” Jason smirked as he looked over at Tim, Damian and Dick who were prepping their ammo. Jason had always wanted the opportunity to humiliate Dick, this was the perfect shot at it. And with Cass and Stephanie on his side the boys didn’t stand a chance.

Cass made the first offensive move, Jason just decided to follow her lead, as the Black Bat was already going to kick ass. Stephanie gave a gleeful shout as their battle cry and war was waged then as he and the girls moved.

* * *

 

Bruce looked up when Selina walked in with Harley and Ivy. Helena was in her crib in the corner of his study with Lian at this moment as Terry napped on the floor with the Christmas gift Damian was currently hiding and Titus.

“Okay, B, we’re taking them!” Harley announced as she unceremoniously dropped into the chair across from him. He just blinked; this was… this had never happened! Harley Quinn was sitting in his study! Like she belonged here and had been here a thousand times before! It was disturbing.

“Excuse me?” he managed looking to Selina for a bit of help.

“The little bird and her brother, we’d like to adopt them,” Ivy said primly sitting across from him.

“I…” Bruce hadn’t honestly ever thought Selina was serious with her gags about Ivy and Harley adopting Raven but now he looked between the women and at Selina for some help.

She just shrugged.

“We know about the big secret!” Harley rolled her eyes as she mimicked her fingers to mock the Bat then. “We don’t care, ain’t tellin’ no one, we just want the little bird and her brother! They’re our babies!”

“Rachel…” Bruce started.

“Has agreed!” Ivy smiled.

“I…” Bruce was at a loss at this.

“I told you B, Rae’s ours now,” Selina chuckled. Bruce sighed, he knew when he was beat, and with Selina he was more than aware as he looked between the Gotham Sirens. At least Raven wasn’t as likely to come here to destroy his city.

“So’s her big bro!” Harley squealed.

“I did not agree to this.” Victor said.

“You’re family now too, get used to it,” Ivy announced turning to Vic. Bruce just blinked.

“You’re adopting Victor and Raven?” Bruce managed.

“Yes.”

“I…” Raven just sighed and nodded. Bruce guessed that this was acceptance of defeat and he was just going to have to accept it.

“Fine,” Bruce managed.

“Thanks B!” Harley giggled. Bruce was still pretty sure this was surreal as Selina slid into his lap, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and she smiled. Raven and Victor looked like they’d both been hit by a hurricane, and Harley and Ivy both sat there casually.

“Oh, you’re secret is safe with us B! You got our goddaughter so expect us around a lot!” Harley announced.

“WHAT!?” Bruce sputtered.

“Can it Bats, we got to make sure you don’t corrupt her,” Ivy stated icily.

“I!” Bruce groaned in defeat. He wasn’t going to win, he knew when he was defeated and fights involving family he never seemed to win. Selina would appoint her family as godmothers, he’d just have to make sure the godfather wasn’t a villain likely to kill him. He’d appoint Clark, Clark was normal, Clark would be a good godfather.

“Fine,” he sighed.

“You’re just accepting this!?” Victor sputtered.

“We were defeated from move one,” Raven sighed. And Bruce was inclined to agree with the young demoness.

“Welcome to the family!” Harley squealed.

* * *

 

It was evening when Tara walked onto the docks, she stood there staring at the warehouse. Then she took a deep breath before steadying herself against any of her resisting emotions before she walked in. There was no turning back now. She had to get rid of Raven. She couldn’t take it anymore.

“Terra, so good of you to join us,” a voice said from the shadows which had her looking up at Slade.

“I’m here,” she stated tersely. She wasn’t with Slade, she was with the movement to eliminate Raven. Raven, Miss Perfect, Raven who could do no wrong, she hated Raven.

“Then it is time to begin,” Slade said.

Tara just nodded as she followed Slade. She couldn’t, and wouldn’t let Raven continue to control her life. She was living again, and she wasn’t losing Garfield for a third time.

She paused at the entrance as she looked at Slade.

“So what do you need me to do?”

“I need you, to contain Raven,” Slade purred as he touched her cheek. She drew away.

“I can’t do that,” Tara pointed out blankly.

“No, you can’t, but I’ve seen you get under her skin, that’s all you have to do,” Slade said. “Make her lose control.”

“You want me to make her lose control?”

“Not immediately, but soon, we first have to collect her,” Slade said.

“I get to kill her though?” Tara asked.

“When the time is right, and serves a purpose.”

“Raven’s death is why I’m working with you.”

* * *

 

Raven had watched the Bats trapeze out of the Cave for patrol at nine o’clock.

Victor had boomed the Amazons off for a mission; something about a sorceress attacking Greece, and the JL was going on the offensive attacking the problem. Which left her, Kori, Selina, Roy, Terry, Lian, and Helena here; alone, as Alfred had gone to the airport to collect his daughter Julia, who had agreed to come to Gotham for Christmas sometime yesterday. So ,the Cave, and the house were almost empty as Raven stood there. Jason, was… Raven didn’t know where he was at the moment as she walked from her room to Roy’s, she had his Christmas gift in hand.

Dressed in one of Jason’s too large, white t-shirts and a pair of yoga pants, her bare feet walked over the carpet. She paused at Roy’s door before she lightly rapped it. The night filtered in as she opened it slowly.

“Roy?” she called out softly.

“Mmm? Rae?” he sounded sleepy which had her walking in to see him sitting up slowly, his red hair was sticking up every which way. She softened a bit.

“I came here bearing gifts,” she stated monotonously as she paused at his bed. “Merry Christmas!”

“Oh, um… wow,” Roy blinked dumbly at the box as he sat up to take it.

“I thought you might be needing this,” she said as she sat with him. Roy carefully unwrapped the gift, and paused.

“Rae…?”

“I saw the way you were looking at her,” Raven stated matter-of-factly as Roy pulled the blanket out, the soft material falling around him. She smiled at her own work at this. The blanket was green; the favored greed of the Arrows, it had red arrows in it, and Lian’s name, in the finest calligraphy she could manage, scrawled on the corner.

“Rae…” he breathed.

“I thought maybe you’d like to give her a proper blanket, one of your own.”

“Rae, I don’t, I don’t know what to say!” Roy breathed as he stared at it.

“Say nothing. I knitted all the gifts for the Bats, and Vic, don’t tell them that,” she cringed, and Roy chuckled a bit. “I also had Jason’s help, but don’t tell him I had him knitting his own gift.”

Roy laughed then, not a large laugh, but she saw the shaky smile on his lips as he stared at the blanket. “How’d you know I was keeping her?”

“Well, I saw the way you looked at her Roy,” Raven folded her legs. “I also know you have every intention of working your program religiously this time around. For you of course, but I also suspect that you have an alternative motive to keep Lian, and maybe mend fences with the Arrows.”

“Raven,” he started.

“I don’t need details, Roy, I’m just… I want you to have that, for her, for when you’re ready.”

“Thank you, thank you for this,” Roy whispered. “You know, you’re pretty awesome.”

“No I’m not, I’m a dumpster fire of a train wreck, who just cons all of you into believing my awesomeness and demands constant worshipping,” she mused flatly. Roy laughed, and she reached over to grasp his hand.

“None of what happened to Thea was your fault,” Raven said solemnly. “I know I didn’t really know Thea Queen, but knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t want you to blame yourself for her decisions. And she chose to come after you Roy, so her death it isn’t your fault.”

“But she’s only dead because she came after me, Rae,” Roy whispered.

“And if you had called me, and I had come and died, would my death be on you?” Raven asked icily.

“What? No! I can’t make you do anything.”

“Exactly my point Roy. Thea came to save you, Roy. Her death is not your fault.”

“Raven,” he said softly.

“Mmm?”

“How’d you get to being so good?” he asked her.

“I did a lot of really bad things, Roy, and I decided I could be better.” She shrugged it off, and he looked up at her with tired eyes.

“I tried, I just, I think there’s something broken in me, Rae, because I keep fucking up,” he muttered.

“You’re not broken, battered, bruised and a bit worn down, but you’re not broken. We’re all battered by life, Roy, all of us, even the perfect ones, we are all beaten up and worn down, but we’re not broken,” she promised.

“You’re better at this than I remember,” he chuckled dryly.

“I have had a lot of practice with this as of late,” she admitted. “A lot.”

“Mmm,” Roy mused. “You know, I used to wonder what it’d have been like to have you there, you know when we were picking on Jay. I think you and he would have hit it off really well then too.”

“I’d have just blasted all of you. I wouldn’t put up with this bullshit,” she admitted. Remembering her younger self an figuring out that blasting things did not solve the problems was a challenge. Garfield had often times been on the receiving end of her temper.

“I don’t think I can be a father,” Roy admitted.

“I don’t think anyone is ever really ready to be a parent,” Raven said carefully.

“Rae, I’m a fuck up, inside and out, how the hell am I supposed to raise a kid?”

“One day at a time, Roy. And you got people looking out for you, so you’re not completely hopeless. Also, you love her. My mom said that sometimes that’s all a parent needs to have,” Raven said.

“You’re really good at that; and it’s annoying,” Roy hissed.

“Jason calls it my zen-vodo-guru moments.”

“You and he have to be close if you’re not blasting him for teasing your empathy abilities.”

“We are,” Raven admitted. “It’s really good having a best friend, is this how you, Wally, and Dick felt together?”

“Yeah, when we were younger,” he chuckled.

* * *

 

Jade finished her weapons assessments as she looked over at Slade.

“I’m trusting you,” she warned the mercenary. Slade lifted his brow then. “I’m trusting you to save Lian. Or else, I’ll kill you.”

“You should have never slept with Harper.”

“That was my decision!”

“I’m just telling you, you should have never done it,” Slade blankly pointed out.

“You get the Gem, and she’ll do the saving for us,” Slade stated for her. “I will join you shortly.”

Jade nodded as she growled, pulling on her mask and left the warehouse. She had never intended to have Lian. But Lian was a delightful accident and one she would not permit Prometheus to extinguish. She would not let her child perish because of the whims of a madman. Prometheus was not a god, nor did he have the right nor the power to kill children; especially her child!

First though, to collect what Prometheus wanted.

Time to collect a Cat, the batlings, and a precious Gem. Jade hoped Slade was right about the power Raven possessed, because honestly, Jade had never been impressed with her power. Running for Wayne Manor she paused a moment to look at Gotham.

The Bats were blissfully unaware of the coming hell Slade and she were bringing because of Prometheus. Perhaps it was better this way. And perhaps there was a way to save them all from Prometheus, because that anarchist wouldn’t stop at the death of heroes. He was a man who sought to destroy everything.

* * *

 

Raven walked out of Roy’s room when she saw Jason standing in the hall.

“Hey,” he smiled a bit.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asked.

“Not a lot,” he admitted. Then he drew himself up to his full height to tower over her. “When were you going to tell me the bond was broken?”

Raven blinked. His tone wasn’t accusatory, or even with an edge, there was just curiosity in his tone which had her tilting her head back to stare up at him. “After Christmas.”

“Hmmm,” he nodded.

“How’d you know?”

“Because the farthest I have ever been able to get away from you, is the edge of the property, today I went to Gotham.”

“And what were you looking for in Gotham?”

“Sheila.”

“Mmm, for what reason?” Raven asked.

“No particular reason, but it occurred about half way through my hunt that you weren’t there, and as we are bound together, I wondered what had happened.”

“Constantine only put the binding on you until you were fully healed, or I got my powers back. Whichever was to happen first,” she shrugged.

“Clever.”

“Jason, please stay,” she said catching his hand when he turned to leave. “Please.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea little bird,” he whispered.

“Why not!? Because you might actually have a family who cares about you?” Raven demanded sharply.

“Because it all might be a lie,” he whispered.

Raven stiffened at his words and she opened her mouth to protest, but Jason cut her off.

“Rae, I’ve seen a lot of shit, done a lot of shit, lived through hell, and I’d do it all again, I can take it. I guess my life was born for the mad minute, born for the hell, but this,” he gestured to everything around him then. “All of this! It’s a dream, a fantasy. The moment I fuck up again, and I will fuck up again, is the moment they realize I’m not one of them. And Rae, I can’t take that.”

“You don’t know that,” she whispered.

“I do damn it! Dick’s pitched me in Arkham! Five Doors Down From The Joker!” Jason hissed. “I know that wasn’t **_this_** Dick, but if **_that_** Dick could do it, what’s to stop this one!?”

“Me, I wouldn’t let him,” Raven said.

“Rae, you’re awesome, and I fuckin’ adore you, but you can’t stop Dick Grayson once he sets his mind to something. And I’ve been to worlds just like this one, and I Always Get the Shaft. I don’t need more of it,” he sighed.

“Jason, just stay, stay for Christmas, after that, you can go, and I won’t tell your family about it,” she promised. “That’s just a few more days, and they are loving having you here.”

“Rae…” he started.

“Hey, I’m here for the holidays too, so you’re not completely alone,” she offered.

“Fine,” he surrendered. “But after Christmas, I’m outta here.”

“Deal,” she smiled as she held her hand out for him, he took it in a firm grasp. “And one of these days you’re going to have to tell me about the trip through the multiverse.”

“Here’s the summary: it sucked, and I know have a checklist to make sure I’m on my earth.”

“The multiverse while interesting isn’t friendly.”

“Well, night Raven.” He said. “I’m going for a ride.”

“You’re coming back, right?” she called after his retreating form.

“I am a man of my word.” He gave a sloppy salute as he walked away. She sighed as she walked to her room again. Raven collapsed on her bed then.

She didn’t know how long she slept, nor did she know what woke her as her eyes snapped open. Slowly she sat up, her ears twitching for the thing which had disturbed her sleep and slowly she swung her legs over the edge of her bed as she walked. Her senses were all on alert and screaming for her attention as she walked to the door. Reaching for it she paused a moment, then she heard a thud, and she had snatched up a lamp before walking out.

Raven cursed her absent powers as her second eyes opened to give her the ultimate sight, and everything in her pulsed with her primal senses on overdrive.

There was a flicker of shadows, and she paused as she stood in the pool moonlight.

“Whoever you are, I’m warning you, that this will not end well for you,” she growled. “Step out now and I won’t kill you.”

“But you wouldn’t kill me, or anyone,” a cold voice announced. “You’re too pure,” he said stepping out of the shadows.

Her lips curled back as she prepped to attack. “Slade Wilson.”

“Raven. Or should I call you Rachel Roth?” he asked.

“How about neither, and you leave before I kill you.”

“But I came all this way for you,” he smiled.

“Not happening!” she drew back to swing when she felt it break her skin and the liquid pushed into her system, it left her staggering as the lamp clattered from her fingers.

“What?” she managed.

“A fast acting neurotoxin which causes paralyze, temporarily, can’t have you causing trouble now, can we?” a female voice said as Raven twisted in time to see Cheshire’s mask.

“Why?”

“Because Gem, we need your power, and your rage,” Slade said.

Raven felt the spots on her vision as her world gave out. She just gave up the fight, for there was nothing to fight; and let the blackness consume her.

* * *

 

“Load up the other cargo, we need to leave, now,” Slade barked picking up Raven’s limp form.

“And Roy?” Jade asked, looking over at the limp form of her lover, who was barely conscious.

“Leave him.”

Walking out to the van he dropped her into the van and that was when the Cat roused. Those lethal green eyes zeroed on him and Slade smiled.

“What do you want?” she rasped weakly the drug in her system was clearly dragging her back under.

“My life back.” Was his answer as the Cat slumped in the van next to the alien and the Gem.


	22. Dreary Krampys

Roy lay limp on the floor, his own blood, a poison of Jade’s paralyzing him. But he felt his finger twitch as he slowly started coming into control of his body.

“Master Bruce, and the family will be out for the rest of the night,” Roy heard Alfred’s crisp voice then. “But Miss Kyle, and the younger children, along with Miss Anders, and Miss Roth are here for the evening. As is Master Jason and Master Roy.”

“It’s alright Dad,” a woman’s crisp voice answered, and Roy moaned as loudly as he could. There was a gasp, he saw shoes. “Oh my god!”

“Get him to the med-bay,” Alfred said, and Roy groaned as he was hoisted up by a strong lithe form as he limply leaned on her. The dark eyes of the woman were filled with concern as a second person caught his other arm and slung it over him as they dragged him into the Cave.

“Master Roy, what happened?” Alfred stood over him.

“Jade,” he groaned, he still couldn’t feel his body. He couldn’t move.

“I thought this place had more security,” the woman snapped. She had a warm complexion, like a girl from the Mediterranean area. Her spikey, black, pixie hair cute only reminded him of Sin which had him wanting to call Felicity then to have her work her magic and find where the hell Jade had taken Lian.

“Master B, there’s been attack,” Roy heard Alfred speaking, and his eyes slid down as the woman took his blood.

“Slade,” he grounded out.

* * *

 

Jason had ridden to the outskirts of Gotham and stood there looking down at the city as he leaned on his bike. His helmet rested on the bike, and the icy wind ruffled his hair, stung his cheeks, burned his lungs, and bite at his nose. Rubbing his hands together he brought them up to his mouth as he blew into them. His eyes closed as his head fell back.

He could leave. Get on his bike and ride like a bat out of hell, get as far away from here as he could manage. Call Raven when he was at a safe house, apologize because he just… he couldn’t! He couldn’t do this! He couldn’t stay here! Jason couldn’t take it any more!

Now he was free, which had him pulling out a cigarette as he stared out at the city again. His home. Jason was torn between running away and staying. He wanted to stay, it was home. Maybe the Manor wasn’t home,a nd the crazy Bats weren’t home anymore either, but it was still home. It was Gotham.

But Jason couldn’t, he couldn’t take it anymore. He had to get away, and if he wasn’t bound to Raven he didn’t see the reason to stay.

Then the phone rang, that accursed phone Raven had given him. Pulling it out he saw it was Raven’s number as he answered.

“Not now Rae,” he sighed tiredly.

“Master Jason,” a stoic voice greeted him, and he stood up straight.

“Al? why are you using Rae’s phone?” he demanded.

“It appears that Miss Roth, and the rest of the family are missing, and Mister Harper was poisoned.” Alfred stated primly. Jason pulled his bluetooth then and pulled on his helmet.

“What happened?” Jason demanded as he secured his jacket and put the phone in a zipped pocket.

“It appears that someone has broken into the Manor, the family is returning now,” Alfred said.

“Who, when, where, and how?” Jason demanded.

“Those remain unanswered but are being looked into,” Alfred said.

“I’ll be right there,” Jason said as he sped as quickly as he could. First though he had a pitstop to make. Jason would bet money that Rose knew something about this, because it was Rose, and this was probably connected to Slade somehow as Slade was the only one Jason knew of who could get past Bat security measures.

Jason skidded out of Rose building, leaping off the bike as he caught the bottom rung of her fire escape before hauling himself up. Landing lightly, he opened her window. Rose was sprawled out on her bed, her companion was slumped in a chair.

Her eye snapped open, a gasp escaped her lips, her hand flew to a gun, he threw a knife at her companion, pinning him to the chair. She hadn’t even managed to fire a shot before he had her in a tight grasp, pinning her to the bed.

“Where. Is. Raven?” He grounded out coldly as he hauled her up.

“You fractured my wrist!” she hissed as he tightened his grasp on her wrist.

“Raven!? Rose! Where Is She!” he demanded.

“At the Wayne Manor,” she hissed.

“Apparently not. Now, Rose, either answer my question or I start peeling back the layers of your skin, starting with your feet,” he growled. She paled significantly then.

“I don’t know,” she said coldly.

“You’re coming with me,” he snarled as he hauled her out of the bed, in her night gown and dragged her out of the apartment.

“What’s going on?”

“Raven and the batlings are missing, and I warned you Rose,” he snarled. “So, if anything happens to them, anything at all, I will end you. Slowly, and painfully, Rose.”

“You wouldn’t,” she spat.

“Test me, Rose, you’re threatened my friend and my family,” Jason warned her lowly.

Rose’s eye widened then as he tossed her into the elevator and they rode it down to the garage. He spotted her car and tossed her to it.

“Jason, I would never,” Rose started.

“Can it. I know exactly what you’d do,” he warned her as he shoved her into the car and started the engine. She shivered a bit and he glared at her.

“We have a deal.”

“Then prove it,” he decided as he pulled the car out of the garage then and started for the Manor. She just sat in silence, Jason was going to destroy whoever took his family and friend.

* * *

 

Jade stared at the women and the babies in the holding area. Her baby, her eyes flicked over to Slade then.

“Your plan had better work,” she warned him icily.

“It will work,” he smiled almost manically as he looked down at them. Jade looked down at the women as they started rousing. She would have to put her faith in these women to keep her child safe. Unless they could not save themselves from Prometheus; then she would resort to her own plan. She would destroy Prometheus, or die trying.

That was her child, and Prometheus did not get to kill Lian.

She saw Prometheus walk in as the women started getting up, the babies were still sleeping, and she touched her sai then as she watched Prometheus carefully. One wrong move from him and she would unleash every poison she ever had invented on him. There was a reason Prometheus had recruited her, and she’d make him regret it if he did anything to her child.

* * *

 

Prometheus grabbed the guardian of the Gem’s hair as he pulled the drowsy girl up. She moaned a bit as her eyes struggled open.

“Pathetic,” he mused as he stared at her.

“Wha?” the girl moaned.

“You will give me what I want, and the heroes will fall.”

“Never,” the girl hissed.

“You will, girl, or I will kill your friends,” he smiled as he dropped her. The girl moaned as she hit the ground.

* * *

 

Bruce leapt of his motor cycle when he reached the cave, running for the monitors for house. Alfred had contacted all of them, Helena, Terry, Selina, they were missing. So were Kori, Lian, and Raven. The panic he felt at this could not even be put into words or into thoughts as his own hands trembled reaching for the monitors.

“He was poisoned with a rare paralytic, I saw this kind of poison in Vietnam,” a crisp voice spoke. Bruce remembered Julia, who was slightly his junior. “It should be wearing off soon.”

“We just heard,” Tim’s voice said, and suddenly Tim was beside him.

“There’s no readings on the security,” Barbara’s voice said. “I don’t think there was an external hack.”

“Then how?” he heard Luke asking on the comms.

“It doesn’t matter, they aren’t here!” Bruce snapped as he pulled his cowl off.

“No, but Slade was,” Jason announced and stalked in, tossing Rose forward. Rose stumbled to her feet, and Jason slammed his boot into her middle as he sent her into a chair.

“And Spoiler Alert, you’re going to tell us everything about this,” Stephanie snarled appearing as she tugged off her cowl. Cass was besides him, her hand on his shoulder to comfort or hold him back he didn’t know. Dick and Damian rolled into the Cave then.

“Kori!” Dick shouted leaping past all them as he ran for the house.

“Start talking flower,” Jason snarled.

“Where is Raven?” Damian growled.

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know!” Rose shouted.

“But you know Slade, and you said Slade was here at the Gala, so you’re going to start with that,” Jason growled.

“I can’t find Kori!” Dick shouted as he skittered into the Cave.

“Stop,” Bruce roared at all them as he looked between his sons, and his daughter, his team, they were all here, and he came to loom over Rose Wilson. Jason didn’t back off or leave just glared dangerously at him. Bruce ignored his second son for the moment.

“Rose Wilson, youngest of Slade Wilson’s children. Half sister to Grant Wilson, a.k.a. Ravager, and Joseph Wilson, a.k.a. Jericho. Your mother was Lili Worth, she shot your father’s left eye out with a .22 caliber handgun, before she was killed by Wade LaFarge, your half uncle. I do not know you, Rose, but I know what you are capable of,” Bruce said. “I know you killed Wade LaFarge two years ago with the aid of an unnamed associate.”

“So?”

“Rose, I do not care about it,” he stated icily. “I need your help.”

The woman let out a cold breath as her eye flicked up to him. She folded her arms, pursed her lips and looked at them all.

“Please,” Bruce said softly.

“I honestly can’t help you,” she whispered.

Bruce drew himself to his full height then and she sighed. “But I might have a lead.”

“I knew you were holding out on me,” Jason growled.

“Actually I wasn’t,” she stood. “I just don’t trust you in this state.”

Bruce blinked as he didn’t see her move but suddenly there was a syringe in her hand and Jason didn’t get a chance to block her before she stabbed his leather clad shoulder with it and injected him with a sedative.

“You bitch!” he shouted.

“Sorry, but you’re not in control,” Rose said, Jason swayed a bit, Dick barely caught him before Jason pitched forward and Bruce was too stunned to move. Tim and Dick dragged Jason to the medbay and Bruce looked at Rose.

“The Pit, it’s a bit too close to the surface,” she shrugged.

“You lying, traitorous whore!” Damian shouted.

“That’s right you little fuck, so listen closely cause I’m only going to say this once. I have known him longer than any of you, and I know what happened the last time he lost control. Trust me, you can’t stop him, and he nearly died, so yes, if it means keeping his worthless ass alive I’m going to stab him in the back. Without hesitation. Every Time.” she shoved Damian aside.

“Slade’s been working with Jade Nguyen, and the neurotoxin she prefers is derived from the King Cobra’s venom. According to the information Hosun has gathered, someone has been stealing a lot of it, the research facilities at the Gotham Zoo, Gotham Museum, and WE all have reported a loss of their stored venom,” Rose said.

“She’s right,” Barbara’s voice filled his ear then.

“And how does this help?”

“Hosun was triangulating the break ins in hopes to find a central location,” Rose admitted.

* * *

 

Kori moaned as she slowly came too, she gasped seeing that she was not in her bed, and shivered at feeling the concrete beneath her bare legs.

“Friend Selina,” she noticed the older woman looking over a slumped form. “What happened? Where are we?”

“I don’t know where we are, but we were kidnapped.” Selina said.

“Kidnapped?” Kori was up, she felt unbelievably heavy as she wavered a bit on her feet.

“Sit down, we were dosed heavily,” Selina ordered.

“Who else?”

“Me, Helena, Terry, Lian, you, and Raven,” Selina answered. That was when Kori noticed that Selina was examining Raven.

“Raven!” Kori gasped.

“She’s fine, it appears she got a heavier dose,” Selina said calmly.

“She did,” a cold voice informed them, and Kori growled recognizing it. “Don’t bother with your powers, this entire area is under a Power Dampener.” Slade walked in then.

“Slade,” she growled. “What did you do to friend Raven!?”

“Nothing, yet,” Slade answered.

“If you harmed her, again, I will kill you,” Kori promised.

“I have no point in harming her. I need her.”

“For what?” Selina hissed, she was crouched over Raven’s slumped form.

“For my freedom,” Slade answered.

“Friend Raven will never help you!” Kori shouted.

“Oh, but she will, if only to save you.” Slade answered before he left. Kori snarled before she dragged herself over to Raven and Selina. The kids were seen across the way, Helena and Lian were crying in their cell.

* * *

 

Dick just stared at Jason’s limp form for a long moment. He didn’t know how to feel about this as he didn’t know what to say or what to do as he stared at Jason. Kori was missing, pregnant Kori was missing. There were a tight icy set of claws gripped his heart and chest as he looked down at his brother.

“We have to find them,” Dick hissed. “And she just drugged our best lead for that.”

“Not necessarily,” Tim whispered. “I have been going through the data Rose provided Jason. I don’t know what exactly they are after but they keep talking about the Gem of Scath. Raven is the Gem, right?”

“Yes,” Dick answered reflexively.

“I don’t think that whoever the second male on the recordings knows that.” Tim said it softly.

“What?”

“They talk about the Gem and Raven like they’re two separate entities, like Raven is the guard. Whatever this guy is after, I don’t think he realized that Raven isn’t the Gem’s protector, but is the Gem. And Slade has allowed that misconception. He does know about Raven, and what she is, right?”

“Probably better than any of us,” Dick admitted. Slade had willingly worked with Trigon, and Trigon knew everything there was to know about Raven when he had been hunting her. Well, almost everything. Raven largely had remained a mystery, and he would bet not even she knew the full extent of what she could do. Still, Slade knew what Raven was. And Slade knew she was the Gem of Scath.

“Then why is he talking about the Gem and Raven like they are two different things?”

“You think his partner doesn’t know about Raven being the Gem?”

“I don’t think his partner knows anything about Raven beyond what is in her file and what Slade has allowed,” Tim answered. “Raven’s file is pretty sparse.”

“True, but Raven’s never revealed anything, and always kept her powers close to the vest,” Dick said.

“Yeah, but I think I can track her,” Tim said.

“Really?” Dick blinked.

“Raven’s body,” he said it carefully. Dick blinked at that. “I didn’t put a tracker on her! But her body, it’s unique, not like a human’s. We all admit low levels of electricity. Raven’s body always generated more than normal, maybe we can track that if we factor out people and power sources and do a scan of Gotham. They couldn’t have gotten out of this city, not in the amount of time since they were taken.”

Dick just stared at his younger brother. “Wait, you could track Kori, it’d be easier.”

“Why?”

“It’s doubtful that they’d be separated, whatever they want, they took all of them, it’s a safe bet that they will be kept together. And Kori, she runs hot, like nuclear hot, she’d be easier to find.” Dick said helpfully. He had once had to track Kori using her only her heat signature, it hadn’t been easy. Especially with Lobo and Komand’r being the ones who had had Kori at the time.

“We’ll do both,” Tim decided. “On the off chance that they have separated them.”

“Deal, you scan for Raven, I’ll scan for Kori,” Dick decided.

Tim nodded.

“Go, I will watch after Master Jason, and Master Roy,” Alfred said. Dick was already running for his work station. His child, his girl, they were in danger! He had to find them. And while Bruce could be calm about this because Bruce was Bruce, Dick couldn’t be. Dick hated it when his family was in danger, but this… this was different. Very different!

That was his kid in danger! His kid! His child, within Kori, and she was in trouble! He had to save them. He had to do it. There was no room for failure.

“Dick, we’re going to find them!” Tim whispered.

“We have to,” Dick said.

“I can’t imagine how B’s feeling, Selina, Terry, and Helena,” Tim muttered. Dick glanced over to Bruce who was working with Rose then, and he frowned.

Bruce had to be out of his mind.

Dick was.

Looking back at his computer he started the algorithm for finding Kori’s heat signature. She would be running hot, and he had to find that. He couldn’t lose Kori, he couldn’t. It would kill him to lose them now. No doubt Bruce was feeling that way too.

How had B survived losing Jay?

* * *

 

Selina checked Raven’s pulse, the demoness hadn’t stirred as she lay there. Crumpled against the concrete, she was so cold, unnervingly cold. But her pulse was strong, and her heart was still strong, slow and steady and calm.

“Kori, is there anything I should know about Raven?” Selina asked.

“Raven runs cold in body temperature, her heart is unnaturally slow when she is resting, and she is quick to heal, but she is a human right now, so I do know how her body is reacting right now,” Kori said softly.

“How cold does she normally run?” Selina demanded, because Raven felt icy right now.

“I don’t know, her temperature fluctuates according to her environment. Victor has delved into studying her biology, but not much is actually known about her physiology to me though,” Kori admitted.

“Shit,” Selina managed. Pressing her hand to Raven’s lips she felt the demon’s breathe on her hands.

“She is alive,” a voice said.

“I noticed, and you keep me from my children,” Selina looked up at the masked archer who stared down at her then.

“Raven will give me what I need.”

“Then what will you need us for?” Selina hissed.

“To make a dynasty fall,” the man said icily. “The heroes will watch you and their families fall. Starting with your public execution. After I have retrieved what I came for.”

“Oh, so you’re going to execute us?” she chuckled.

“Publicly.”

“Good luck with that!” Selina snickered. “Because if you miss, I will scratch your eyes out.”

* * *

 

Raven groaned as she rolled over, there was a shiver down her spine as she sat up. The white shirt hung off her shoulder as she looked around at wherever she was.

“Friend Raven!” Kori gasped.

“Where are we?” she asked rubbing her temple then.

“Isn’t it obvious Miss Perfect?” a voice sneered. Raven frowned as she watched the lithe, small blonde sauntered out of the shadow. Kori snarled and Raven got to her feet.

“Tara,” Raven said coldly.

“Terra,” she corrected.

“And for what purpose am I and the others here?” Raven asked as she folded her arms. She glared at the slightly shorter woman then and waited.

“We’re here to destroy you, and the last thing you’ll ever know is me killing you,” Tara smiled.

“And killing me does what Tara?” Raven asked.

“It eliminates the competition,” she answered.

“If this is about Garfield,” Raven started.

“It’s not! It’s about you! Miss Perfect! Everyone trusts you, but they know nothing about the monster that you really are!” Tara said.

“You foolish mortal,” Raven snarled, her voices emerging as her second eyes opened. “You foolishly believe that they do not know **_WHAT_** I am?”

“I believe that you have fooled us all. And after Prometheus has what he wants, I’m going to kill you. Slade promised me that much.” Tara stated icily as she sauntered off. Raven watched as she left and let her second eyes shut. Of course Slade was involved with this, which meant more than likely, they’d all die. And that was not something she was going to allow. Her powers had not returned, but that did not mean she was helpless as she turned to look at Kori and Selina.

“Raven…” Kori said.

“I do not know what game Slade is playing, but you need to leave,” Raven decided.

“We cannot,” Kori stated.

“And we stay together, I don’t like the other guy,” Selina said.

“No.” Raven snapped. “You are pregnant, you’re a mother, there are three babies in this mess, and I will not allow anything to happen to you guys.”

“Raven,” Selina started and Raven moved past them, this was a warehouse, she could not use much, but what she saw had her smiling a bit. “You don’t…”

“I have enough magic to pull a Hail Mary,” Raven answered as she picked up what she saw, a few bits of charcoal.

“Kid,” Selina said.

“I have not been a child in a long time, and you and Kori are taking those children away the moment I say.” Raven said as she crouched and started drawing the runes she would need.

“What are you doing?” Selinga demanded.

“Probably something stupid,” Raven admitted. “The last time I did this I was five, and I had no runes to break.”

“What are you doing?” Kori asked.

“I’m about to summon a demon,” Raven said as she continued to draw the runes, make the seal.

“What demon?” Kori sputtered.

“My demon.” Raven answered.

“Friend Raven,” Kori started.

“Slade is involved which means we’re all going to die if we’re not careful. There is no way out of this unless we play Slade’s game, and I don’t know about you but the last time we played his game, we were nothing but pawns for my father. This time we will not be pawns,” Raven said as she finished the runes, and the seal. Standing she turned to look for something sharp.

“Yes, and last time you unleashed Trigon,” Kori reminded her softly.

“Yes, but as my father is now powerless, I am not worried about him. I am worried about all of you living,” Raven stated as she noticed a rusty nail and picked it up. Examining it carefully she decided that it would do.

“And what demon are you summoning this time?” Kori asked.

“You’re summoning a demon?” Selina sputtered.

“Myself,” Raven answered.

“Yourself?” Selina asked.

“I am complicated, but my demon nature was sealed away, by Azar herself.”

“What happened the last time you summoned your demon?” Kori asked nervously.

“I slaughtered four of my brothers,” Raven answered. “With my bare hands.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Selina asked.

“You have a child, two babies, and pregnant Kori, your lives matter, and I will protect them at whatever cost,” Raven answered as she sliced her index finger then and walked to the glass of their cell before she wrote in blood. “Just be prepared to run like hell.”

“There are power dampeners here,” Kori said.

“That doesn’t stop magic,” Raven answered.


	23. Black Out, Knock Out, Drag Out Fight

The location of the warehouse was not ideal, from what Bruce could see the entire warehouse was set into a kill box. There was no tactical advantage to their attacks. It was more than probable that whoever had taken the time to install traps. The problem was the location of this warehouse, the traps had not way around them.

“More than likely the entire place is rigged, traps everywhere. He’s got the advantage here,” she pointed. “Here, and here. If it was me, I’d also have overwatch set up, across the river, or here. I know I’d also have some overwatch from the docks area.”

“And how are we to get at the warehouse?” Dick growled at Rose.

“I’d recommend the sewers, daddy is arrogant enough to overlook them,” she said.

Bruce didn’t verbally agree with her, but he wasn’t optimistic about the sewers either. If anything, there was a higher probability of a trap being down there than in some of the locations Rose had pointed out. Which meant he would be calling Clark for assistance.

It was HIS Kids in danger. The thought as always froze his blood, rattled his teeth and crushed his heart.

There was a toxic set of greasy knots in his gut as he fought the panic at Terry, Helena and Lian being in trouble. Selina would be able to save herself, as would Kori and Raven.

“We take the direct route,” Bruce stated coldly. There would be no going through the sewers, or these antics. They were going to be direct, and he was getting his kids back. Then he’d beat the shit out of Slade and whoever the hell he was working with because no one touched his children. No one.

“And what about Jason?” Tim piped up.

Bruce looked over to where Jason was, and Roy was too.

“We don’t have time for this,” Bruce decided. “We go now.”

“That’s foolish!” Rose shouted.

“And That’s My Children’s Lives!” Bruce roared as he spun on the smaller woman. “Those Are My Children In Danger!”

“Bruce!” Tim shouted.

“We’re going! We’ll defuse the traps as we go, but we’re going.” Bruce stated icily.

“Fine,” Cass nodded.

“Babs will talk us through and be kept in the loop.” Bruce pulled on his cowl.

“Then I’m going with,” Rose announced.

“No you’re not, I don’t trust you.” Bruce stated as he shoved her back in a chair, cuffing her then.

“WHAT!? You need me! I know Slade’s traps better than anyone else!” Rose shouted.

Bruce knew that, he could see it with how the girl had this determined focus about her. However, he was also aware that she had drugged Jason, and wasn’t elaborating on her life or reasons. She was an unknown, he only knew what he knew about her because of DNA and police reports. Beyond those, like Jason, he knew nothing about her. Not her skillset, her objectives, her motives or how she’d work with others.

He wasn’t risking his children because of her.

* * *

 

Slade smirked, so the little demon had taken the bait, now to see if Prometheus would notice.

Yes, Slade had purposely left things in that cell to be used as weapons, but what he hadn’t expected was the Gem’s move.

Magic.

He hadn’t really thought she’d use magic.

* * *

 

Raven spoke in Azarathian as she stepped away from the glass, lifting her bloodied hand as she spoke the incantation. The runes glowed and then the glass shattered.

“Neat trick,” Selina said.

“Go get the kids,” Raven barked. Kori grabbed Selina as they ran to the babies. Terry quieted when he was picked up.

“Well, well, I gotta admit I’m unimpressed Raven,” Tara’s voice sneered. “Just breaking the glass isn’t going to do anything. And they aren’t leaving!” Tara growled as she threw up a wall, but Kori took to the air, her hands glowed.

“You’re wrong Terra,” Raven stated icily as she stood tall then and held up the nail. Her eyes flicked to Kori, who was floating. “They are leaving, and I’m about to do far worse than breaking glass.”

Holding out her wrist she looked Tara in the eye then.

“Watcha going to do? Be all emo and slit your wrists?” Tara sneered.

“Interesting fact here, most fools who slice their wrists do it wrong, too shallow, not on an artery, no conviction,” Raven said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. Looking over at Kori and Selina. “Ten minute head start for you two.”

“They aren’t going anywhere!” Tara shouted as the entire warehouse trembled and Raven saw the ground sinking.

“See they are though, Tara, you’re about to have your hands full. The moment I slit my ulna artery I’ve got a virgin’s blood, and in this seal, I break all my demon seals, and you’ll have a full grown, exceedingly pissed off demon who’s out for blood,” Raven stated icily. She saw Tara waver for a moment.

“You don’t scare me!”

“Oh, but I should,” Raven responded, as she looked at Kori, Kori dove for Selina, who had Terry and Helena in hand. Raven saw Kori grabbing Selina and Lian as she moved. Tara tore a boulder up from the ground and Raven stabbed the nail deep on her ulna artery. A hiss escaped her as the pain screamed in her body and mind, then she tore the nail towards her elbow, already she could feel the blood flowing hot and heavy. The pain was excruciating as she felt the cut burn. The nail clattered on the ground and Tara turned to her.

Raven saw the blood hit her seal as the charcoal ignited and glowed a brilliant blue around her feet.

“ **If I Were You, Little Girl, I’d Run.** ” Raven’s voices rasped as her second eyes opened and her lips twisted into a sadistic smile.

The seals of Azar burned as the runs long since branded into her soul glowed, and slowly they pealed off her skin. The rush of power had her arch as it felt like weights were torn off her, the runes now flew off her, and the force of a demon nature hit her with full force.

* * *

 

Roy groaned as he came to, then he bolted up.

“Lian!” he roared.

“B, and the rest of the family are going after the children,” a prime voice said, and Roy’s head whipped around to the unknown woman who stood there with her arms folded.

Just then Jason groaned. “I’m going to kill her,” he muttered.

“They got Lian, I need… I’m going after them!” he snapped as he tried to get to his feet.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” the woman snapped shoving him back. Roy scowled at her.

“That’s my kid! I’m going to get her!”

“Neither you nor Jason are going anywhere and if you think differently about that I’ll knock you out again!” she snapped as she stopped off to the main part of the cave.

Jason’s eyes snapped open, and the first thing Roy noticed was they were brilliant green, almost catlike with how they glowed. “I’m going,” he said and he was up.

“Me too,” Roy swung his feet off his bed then.

“Whoa, weren’t you…” Jason started catching his shoulders.

“That’s my damn kid, Jason, I’m going!” Roy hissed as he dragged himself up on steadier feet using Jason’s massive bulk as his anchor and prop at that moment.

“You’re an addict,” Jason snapped. “And just got hit with a partial paralytic.”

“My kid!” Roy hissed. “What’s your reason for going?”

“They got Rae and my family.”

“Exactly. I’m going,” Roy shoved past Jason and staggered a few steps, he felt like lead, he felt like hell, but he was going.

Suddenly all the lights in the cave blacked out, and he looked up, then over in Jason’s vicinity. Glowing green eyes looked startled and back at him.

The lights flickered on again and Jason and he just looked at one another for a long minute.

“That’s not good,” Jason said carefully.

“Definitely not good,” Roy agreed.

“We have lost all communications with the family,” Alfred said and Roy looked at Jason. Jason shoved his way past him and into the main part of the cave. Roy saw his gear scattered over a table and he staggered to it.

This was all his fault, he was going, he was going to go and make this right. He had to make this right.

He had broken everything that the Titans, the Arrows, his adopted families, he stood for, he wouldn’t be able to fix it. He knew that, he didn’t expect to fix it, but Goddamn It!, he was going to save his daughter from Jade. Jade Nguyen was the biggest mistake of his life, only second to drugs and alcohol.

He wouldn’t fail Lian like he had failed himself.

Raven was right, she was right again. As always. He was keeping Lian, he didn’t know what he was going to do, or where he was going to go, or how he was going to help Lian, but he was keeping Lian. The thought terrified him. But the mere reality that he could lose her, right this moment, that wasn’t terrifying, that would destroy everything he was. That was his little girl, and he was going to go save her.

That’s what dads did, they saved their babies, and he was going to go save his.

Finishing strapping his gear into place he picked up a spare Bat domino mask, black one he hesitated a moment. Then he fitted it to his face before pulling his shaggy ginger hair back and looking over at Alfred who had materialized beside him.

“Don’t try to stop me, they got my baby,” Roy said coldly.

“I would never dream of stopping you,” Jason said tartly. “But you’re not going it alone.”

Roy looked over at the second Bat then as he pulled on gear. Roy didn’t know much about Jason, actually nothing. This man was very different from the young boy he had tormented as a youth. However, Raven trusted him, and Raven didn’t trust anyone really, so he supposed that that counted for a lot. He could trust Jason if Raven could, but there was an important factor holding him back right then.

“That’s my baby in danger,” Roy said coldly to Jason, Jason stood there pulling on spare gear.

“That’s my family and Raven,” Jason replied.

“You aren’t running?”

“I was going to, and I was going to accept Raven’s wrath for running, but she was taken because I wasn’t here, same with Kori, and Selina, and Terry, and Helena, and Lian, they were taken because I was going to run,” Jason muttered.

“Rae will probably forgive you,” Roy pointed out.

“They’re in danger because I was going to run, despite being aware of a threat targeting them. This is my fault, and I’m getting them back.” Jason stated it icily.

“This isn’t your fault, it’s mine,” Roy said sourly.

“You were here, you tried to fight,” Jason pointed out.

“I betrayed the Titans.”

“You were here,” Jason repeated.

Roy said nothing as he looked at the arrows scattered over the work table, they were definitely his, and he secured them in his quiver. He wasn’t leaving Lian to the mercy of no one; especially Jade Nguyen. Jade might be his baby mama, but a mother Jade was not.

The lights flickered violently, Roy looked up.

“Whatever is going on, we getter move fast,” Roy said.

“What can you tell me about Prometheus?” Jason demanded sharply as he picked up the bat gear.

“He’s dangerous, easily more dangerous than Slade, or any LoA member. He’s got a God complex, and he’s the most brilliant tactician I’ve ever encountered, he can kill us all, and won’t hesitate to do so,” Roy answered.

“So what do you recommend?” Jason said.

“If we’re going do this, we gotta go fast and can’t be predictable,” Roy admitted.

“Unpredictable I can do,” Jason stated. “But if we’re going we gotta go before we’re detained again.”

* * *

 

Bruce stilled when all of the lights and power went out in Gotham, plunging the city in true darkness which had everything stilling. It was like someone had hit pause to the city. Bruce’s power in his suit, the comms, the computers, the information, the heat vision, the infrared, the data readings, everything, it was gone as he looked over to Dick and Tim who were paused beside him.

“That’s not good,” Tim muttered, and he looked up when there was a beam but brilliant blue-white light pulsed into the sky.

“That’s a lot of power,” Dick muttered.

“What generates that power?” Damian asked.

“Raven,” Dick and Tim answered in unison.

Bruce stared at his sons then. Raven’s power? He knew the girl’s power was immense and he knew it was tremendous but there was no way that girl could black out a city. Could she?

“We have to get there,” Bruce stated.

The beam dispersed then, the pulse unleased as there seemed to be a whiplash, the power igniting outwardly from where that beam had been. The rush of power put everything back online when the backlash hit him. Everything booted up and the comms flickered.

“B! Nightwing! Someone answer!” Barbara’s voice shouted.

“We’re here O,” Dick spoke first.

Suddenly there was a blinding surge of light, Bruce read the heat signature as he zoomed in on the light.

The heat was reading of a missile, it was unnervingly hot, moving too fast to be stopped. But when he zoomed he saw it was Kori, holding Selina, and three babies.

“That’s Kori!” Tim shouted.

“I can see that, Selina too,” Dick sighed.

“Where’s Raven?” a new voice asked which had Bruce noticing Stephanie then.

“I don’t see her,” Dick sounded panicked then. And then there was another blast of power which slammed into them again.

“Keep going!” Bruce shouted, and Dick was up, leaping the rooftops. Bruce ran as fast as he could then. His family was safe, but there was a chance that Raven was in trouble, and she had repeatedly saved his family. His boys. She hadn’t ever hesitated to save them either.

“I’m reading four heat signatures in that warehouse,” Tim shouted as he continued running ahead of them.

“What would cause Raven to have that power?” Bruce asked gruffly.

“I don’t know,” Dick shouted. “But the last time anything like this happened it was Raven, and she unleashed it on her father, the first time!”

“It’s bad if she’s unleashing that power,” Tim shouted.

“I hate magic.” Bruce decided as he dropped to the dock. Landing on a shipping container, his optic lenses zoomed in on where the power readings were from. There were four heat signatures, and then there was an cold reading. That cold reading was floating and everything else seemed… suspended.

“What. Exactly. Is. Raven. Capable. Of?” Bruce grounded out because there was still ice in his veins about this situation and it’s entirety that was filling him with true fear.

“Honestly, I Don’t Know,” Dick answered.

* * *

 

Dick stared at Bruce helplessly then. What Raven was capable of was entirely unknown. Even her morals were unknown to him. Raven wasn’t like them, she never had been. She was powerful, she was dangerous. And Raven had never been deceitful about what she was, Raven was a demon.

A Very Powerful Demon.

And what Dick knew of Demons who weren’t Raven, they were bad, very, very bad, and if Raven worked so hard to be good, what she could do, that wasn’t known. Dick was well aware of how little they actually knew about Raven.

“Raven’s morally flexible, and if she’s being a demon, she will kill,” Tim answered.

“What?” Bruce looked over at Tim.

“I’ve seen her tear out the hearts of demons, I doubt she would hesitate to do that if threatened by humans. She’s lethal, B, and we should approach this with extreme caution,” Tim filled in.

Those were put ice in Dick’s veins as he stood there staring at the warehouse then.

Raven was always dangerous, Dick just hadn’t ever thought about how dangerous. Now he was learning that she was.

“Are you scared of her?” Cass asked.

“If we’re smart, yes, be very afraid of Raven,” Tim answered for them.

Dick said nothing. As he noticed the heat signatures flying over the city. He hadn’t ever thought of Raven as the thing to fear.

* * *

 

There was a black out, and she felt her blood chill as it felt like all the heat vanished within the warehouse.

There was an ooze of something primal down her spine as it felt like the shadows darkened and the world froze icily. Which had the sai sliding into her hand as she started creeping through the shadows. Now washer time to strike and run. She had to destroy Prometheus, before he killed her family, of that she was certain.

Pulling her mask on tight she started reading the thermals for information before she moved. There was a blast of heat and she watched as the small, baby heat signatures flew off in what appeared to be a supernova then there was another pulse of energy as all the power came flickering back on.

Jade ducked down low as she rolled away from a flying rock, getting to her feet she noticed Slade, who had take to the higher levels of this warehouse.

But all that didn’t matter as Jade’s eyes widened in genuine horror at what she saw before her. The force of agony which slammed into her knocked her back and painfully into a wall, knocking the air out of her lungs.

Sliding down the fear was drowning her as it’s icy claws clawing her throat and the way her heart tightened. It was killing her, this force, and then there was that cold, sardonic chuckle.

There was a real devil here, as it levitated upwards.

* * *

 

Jason grabbed the keys for a bike, when she stopped him.

“Move Rose.” Jason snarled it lowly as he glared into that brilliant blue eye.

“You go, I go, or I’ll end you,” Rose countered.

“I don’t trust you,” Jason warned her.

“And I know you’re not in control, and some will be needed to put you down if you lose it, Jason.” Rose warned. She wasn’t wrong he could feel it right there, swirling dangerously beneath his skin like a dangerous itch just aching to be scratched. He wanted to annihilate something, but what he didn’t know, and he wanted to destroy it. Tear it apart, burn it to the ground and watch it all wither away and die. He wanted to make it bleed. Watch the blood pour from it’s wounds as he destroyed the threat to his friend and family.

“You can try,” Jason warned.

“We’re leaving, so let’s take the back up,” Roy whispered to him.

Jason looked at Roy then snarled.

“Fine.”

“You trust him?” Rose asked Roy.

“Leaving. Now. Have a problem with it, you’ll have to kill me or keep up,” Jason shouted as he shoved his way to the bikes and leapt to straddle one. Jason knew that the Bats would take the fastest route to the docks, meaning they’d take the rooftops, but Jason’s Gotham’s very own street rat, and he knows ever fast way, short cut, back alley, loophole, and speed trap on the ground and he’s betting that if he’s going fast enough he can take the docks by surprise.

An exploding bike is usually a very good distraction.

Revving the engines, he blasted out of there as fast as he could without slowing without faltering either. Jason roared over the abandoned bridge as he took to the streets of Gotham. It took him speeding through traffic with Roy and Rose on his tail.

Jason was going to end Slade tonight and he was going to make certain that Slade and every other possible enemy of his family that he was going to destroy them if they ever came after his family. Or after Raven. Jason was not losing his friend. No. He was not going to tolerate it.

“Master Jason!” Alfred’s voice filled his ear.

“I’m going,” Jason shouted.

“I think you should be aware that the family is already on site,” Alfred filled in. “I will patch you in on the comms,” Alfred said.

“What can you tell me about the scene?” Jason demanded.

Suddenly his domino mask was filling him with the outline of where the warehouse was.

Jason took a moment to think about the location of the warehouse and where it was, the surrounding locations of the warehouse. It was a kill box, he knew that there was a dangerous area there, and a high probability of getting killed.

But Jason took a moment to think about this because he didn’t want to fuck it up.

“Tell B I’m taking the direct route, the Bats can either come in or stay the fuck out of my way,” Jason warned.

“What are you thinking to do?” Rose asked.

“I’m doing it like Libya,” Jason warned Rose. And he could almost hear her hitting her breaks, but he didn’t slow. There was a direct route to do this, and Jason didn’t fucking care about the odds. He was used to those being stacked against him. But he was going to do this. He didn’t mind blasting his way through it either, and being unpredictable…

Well, he had been taught by the best at improvising.

“I like living!” Rose shouted.

“You’re welcomed to stay behind,” Roy retorted. “What’d you do in Libya?”

“I killed them all.”

“Simple, effective, I like plan A.” Roy decided.

Okay, so Jason could work with Roy. So long as no one gripped about the morals and shit he could do this. He could keep the minimal control needed to not get himself killed and to not kill the people he was going there to save. But after they were all safe, he was letting his minimal control go. The Pit’s itch needed a scratch and he didn’t mind unleashing it.

Zipping around a narrow corner Jason skittered around a heavy tanker then slid under another eighteen wheeler before popping a wheeling and hopping off the bridge. Hitting the ground he revved his engines some more as he flew through traffic, staying low and tight with his bike. He could hear Rose swearing at his existence as they blasted through traffic.

* * *

 

Kori floated over the warehouse for a moment as that beam of light seemed to summon all the power of Gotham to the warehouse as it blacked out. She tightened her grip on Selina and Lian as everything blasted out. She saw Raven floating upwards.

“That’s a lot of power,” Selina whispered.

“That is friend Raven, and we are leaving,” Kori said and she spirited away as she felt the that primal fear slithering down her spine, freezing her blood, and shuddering in the icy chill. Kori remembered when Trigon had first attacked, or when Raven dared to unleash a fraction of her real power, it was truly terrifying, and Kori did not intend to stick around for whatever power Raven had summoned.

Raven’s abilities scared Kori, though she was best friends with Raven, her friend’s abilities were truly terrifying when it came to what they were.

“Should she have done whatever voo-doo she did?” Selina shouted.

“Probably not.” Kori admitted. Raven rarely did whatever she should do when she was threatened. Truly threatened, then her powers were very dangerous. Just look at what she did to Trigon!

Kor was not hanging around Raven when she was like that. It was a fast way to lose life expectancy. She didn’t particularly want to die. Suddenly there was a wave of power which knocked them over the harbor and Kori gasped as she tried to keep her balance in the air.

* * *

 

She could feel the power as it swirled through her veins and she felt it as the armor of her kind slid over her skin slowly. The feathers, the armor, her nails sharpening, her fingers breaking as they elongated, and her clothes were shifting as the armor slid over her body. The feathers were ruffled as she felt them forming and she chuckled icily as there was ice in her veins.

Raven could feel her demon nature coming to light as it seeped into her blood as she felt her more human emotions, and human nature shut down.

Her lips twisted upwards dangerously as her eyes darkened as she cracked her knuckles and the talons formed. The power was foreign, and yet it was so eerily familiar as it filled her heart and mind. She felt the fear now radiating in the room.

There was a blast of gun shots at her, sweeping her hand she felt the shadows wrapped around her stopping them. Catching the bullets in the shadows she dropped them to the ground.

“ **You Wanted The Gem** ,” she purred, her voices forcing them all to stumble back. “ **Well, here’s the Gem.** ”

The final feathers of her armor wrapped over her head and her eyes blinked as everything went to heat as her empathy pulsed dangerously to sense where everyone was.

“ **Run** ,” Raven mused lethally.

Tara screamed and the stones flew as the earth shook, she took to air.

* * *

 

The moment Slade saw that glow, he had drawn. Then Raven’s blood had been spilt and now he stared as horror and terror as she had transformed, she had shifted.

Now there was a monster standing there, looking rather like a Harpy from myths, and the overwhelming terror he felt was that of a miscalculation at using the Gem. This was not power that Raven had displayed this power.

That raw, suffocating power had drowned him from Trigon and now it was breaking him as it robbed him of his breath, stilled his heart, and now there was a paralyzing fear in him.

The harpy rose up, her face was now covered, but those lips of her, those solemn lips, that neither smiled nor frowned ever, twisted into a dangerous cruel smile as it looked like fangs form. The demon was there, and he could see the true monster then.

She was unlike anything he had ever witnessed, and she was far worse than her father ever had been as it knocked him off his feet and into the wall, which had broken his ribs he could feel, and he felt a dislocated shoulder. The monster turned her head, and the rocks flew at her before there was a pull of darkness and she took to the air.

She was far worse than Trigon could have ever been.

What the hell had he unleashed!?

What the hell was she really!? This was not what he had wanted to unleash!


	24. Deck the Halls

The rocks came at her, thrown with full force and everything slowed for her. It was now she came tearing at the rocks. There was no point in going around them so she would go through them. There was a scream of fury but it didn’t slow Raven as she flew up towards her prey. Leaping up for the girl she slashed the shoulder of the girl knocking her down to the ground. There were bullets shot, and a slash had her turning towards her attacker.

“ **Slade Wilson,** ” she purred. “ **Sold your soul for you life, condemned yourself to hell, avowed yourself to serve hell only to betray my father.** ”

“I serve no one,” Slade warned as he leveled the gun at her head.

“ **You think you can kill me with that?** ” she asked.

More rocks flew at her, Raven twisted as she slashed out the shadows, her lips curled back and she dropped. She could feel the blood seeping from her wrist, killing her, but her heart slowed dangerously as she took a steadying breath. Catching the railings, she swung up and perched herself on the handrailing.

“ ** _I HATE YOU!_** ” Tara screamed as she threw another boulder at her.

There was another flurry of rocks hurled at her and Raven released the railing as she dropped towards the ground. Raven moved fast as she went for Tara. The rocks cracked beneath her feet and Raven tore through the rocks, her talons shredded the rocks before she leapt twisting to evade another boulder before it crashed into her again, slamming her into the wall.

“You are stealing him from me!” Tara screamed. And Raven groaned as she sat up in the rubble. Tara glared at her with such venomous hatred that it fueled her demon.

“ **Foolish human** ,” Raven muttered standing. Cracking her spine and her neck she turned her attention solely upon the human who controlled the earth. There was another tremor of the earth which had her tearing forward, her claws catching a rock as she twisted over the rock and flung it back towards Tara. It hit the blonde with full force and then there was more bullets flying at her.

Turning upwards towards Prometheus.

“What the hell are you?” the man demanded.

“ **I am the Gem of Scath** ,” Raven snarled leaping up, the man stepped into a portal. She perched herself on the handrails.

“ **I am Pride**.” She answered as she saw him reappear across the way. He fired more bullets at her, she felt the coming at her but merely drew the darkness around as she appeared behind him. He caught her wrist.

“ **I am Trigon’s Only Daughter** ,” she slammed her knees into him when he lifted her off the ground and twisted around intending to slash his throat out, but he slashed a knife at her arm then. She flew over him, when he fired at her again. the bullet tore through her hip, but she didn’t feel it as she swung around on him.

Prometheus used a key then as he disappeared into a portal. Raven snarled, she could feel more of her blood slipping from her wound then there was another boulder being hurled at her direction. Spinning around she slashed her talons through the rocks. Snarling her eyes narrowed on the girl.

“If you would just die!” Tara screamed.

Raven dropped towards the girl. “ **Death’s a friend.** ”

“Then say hello to it!” Tara screeched as she lunged, and Raven waited carefully for the moves of the girl. Tara landed before her as she spun kicked her leg towards Raven’s gut. Raven cut the girl then shoved her back as she slashed another set of claws through the girl’s arm.

“ **I am not dying at the hands of you** ,” Raven stated. The girl screamed as she came at Raven her fist drawn back as she threw a wide punch. Raven evaded, slamming her knee into the girls gut before raking her talons down Tara’s back then shoving her out of her way.

Prometheus came before her and Raven stood very still as she stared the human down carefully.

“You will be my weapon,” he growled.

“ **I am no one’s weapon** ,” Raven snapped, she made the first move, felling more of her blood splatter on the ground but she didn’t slow.

Prometheus blocked her punch but she slashed her other hand at him, only for him to slug her in the gut. Raven gasped for air as she stumbled back. He slammed his knee into her back, toppling her to the floor when there was another move from the corner of her empathy. She rolled away and to her feet as she narrowly evaded a boot to the head. The darkness pulled around her as she took to the air. Prometheus was fast though.

Pulling her hand back as the blood slide over her hand she spoke the devil’s tongue as her father’s black magic coursed to life, the runes glowed bright as they form. Pulling her hands around she took careful aim with the spells of her father’s own creation, Prometheus dropped into another portal as she fired them which had her roaring in frustration.

She could feel her life ebbing, as the power of her own blood dripped to the ground and snarled as she looked over her feeling a portal open.

Her empathy latched onto the energy of the portal as she wrapped the darkness over her to protect her from the rain of shots at her. catching Prometheus by the throat she squeezed as she snarled floating over him.

The stabbing pain in her ribs had her gasping as she dropped him and curled away. Plummeting through the air she heard the glass shattering for some reason.

Raven curled up as she smashed into the ground feeling the spell for her demon break as the armor broke and her breath knocked from her ribs.

“Stupid girl, you cannot win against me,” the human stated looming over her.

“I was never going to win anyway,” she whispered. Using the last of her will she grabbed some of the glass as she slashed his thigh as deep as she could before a boot kicked her head knocking her back as the world went black.

* * *

 

Dick came crashing through the skylight and the only thing he could see was Raven as she took a knife between her ribs before she dropped whoever had stabbed her.

Then it was like slow motion as Dick screamed, Raven dropped from the air, she didn’t look up, no she curled up as she plummeted towards the ground. God it was just like watching his parents die all over as Dick descended as fast as he could, not caring about grace or theatrics.

He heard B and Tim behind him but he didn’t slow.

Raven slashed her attacker, who roared in pain before kicking her hard. Dick saw a batarang slam into the guy before B smashed into him knocking him back. Dick slid to a halt over Raven, there was so much blood and her body was in such an awkward broken form that he couldn’t think for a minute.

“Move!” Tim shoved him aside as he took her pulse. Dick slammed his hands down on her wrist which seemed to be the heaviest bleeding wound.

“I got a pulse.”

“I think she’s sliced an artery,” Dick stated.

“She’s bleeding into her chest too, looks like she was stabbed deep,” Tim said as he was working her other wound.

“Grayson,” a voice sneered from the shadows, Damian was there, his sword up as he saw his sisters on the balconies fighting with Jade. Slade walked from the shadows.

“Slade,” Damian snarled.

“Don’t,” Dick shouted but it was too late as their baby brother moved fast.

“Go!” Tim ordered.

“If I let go she bleeds out,” Dick snapped.

“If you don’t help him Slade kills him,” Tim hissed.

Dick looked between Raven and Tim then at Damian who was valiantly trying to fight Slade.

“I got her,” Tim said.

Dick reluctantly moved his hands, and watched as Tim worked before he leapt over Tim, drawing his eskrima sticks. Leaping over Damian he came at Slade metal clanging against the swords as he shoved him back.

“What did you do to Raven!?” he roared.

“She did that all to herself,” Slade answered.

It was then that Dick noticed Tara’s eyes, almost lifeless, and all the blood seeping from her broken body. Damian went at Slade again, and Dick snarled as he followed Damian's lead. Twisting over Damian Dick intercepted Slade’s right blade as he kicked Slade’s knee out, and Damain swung his sword for Slade’s head.

Knocking Slade back Dick leapt and spun over his brother catching Damian before he could do something lethal.

Slade slashed a blade over his back which had Dick crying out in pain before he smashed his heel back into Slade’s gut sending the older man stumbling away. Turning Dick growled at the man, who held his blades and stance then.

“Your form is for shit,” Slade remarked.

Dick didn’t hold back then.

* * *

 

Tim tied a tourniquet on Raven’s arm but he was more focused on her chest wound.

His eyes flicked to where Tara was bleeding out, she was muttering for help, but he frowned. Oh, Tim knew full well what had inflicted those scratches on Tara Markov’s body. Tim had witnessed Raven’s demon once, when she had unleashed it against Lobo; cutting Lobo’s skin with her talons.

“Rae, Rae, I need you to look at me,” he said as he touched her chin, there was a trickle of blood from her lips and her eyes were glassy.

“I know what you did but I need you to look at me,” Tim said. Last time she had done this Raven had stabbed her own heart to keep them safe from her, he had a good idea that the wound on her wrist was to either kill her before she killed them, or to cripple her demon.

“Hey, hey, there you are, Rae, this is going to hurt, your shoulder is dislocated, and we’re getting an evac from here as soon as we can,” he said.

Her shoulder was in bad shape, her ribs were broke, easily, he was going to have to ask Leslie for x-rays on her hip, and that tibia was broken on her left leg. But what scared him more was how much blood she was losing.

Raven didn’t respond, her breath fluttered out as her body went lax and her eyes shut.

“Rae! Raven! I Need Some Help Over Here!” Tim roared over his shoulder as he frantically felt for her pulse.

“O, I need a way out of here, right now,” Tim spoke into his comms then as he felt no pulse on Raven’s neck.

“What’s happened?”

“I think Raven’s dying,” Tim admitted.

Then there was a pulse of energy, it was bright, lights flicking orbs, all around and all over the sky.

“Scratch that, she’s dying, I need to get her out of here, we need to contact the JL or someone’s medbay now for a demon!” Tim shouted into his comms.

“Arsenal is on his way, would he know how to help her? I am trying to contact Cyborg.”

“Yeah, he saved her last time,” Tim said as he was over Raven’s chest and performing CPR then. “Come On! You do not get to die on me! You don’t get to do this Raven!”

Tilting her head breathed for her as he continued his compressions and counting.

They needed her to get help, she needed it now! gritting his teeth he kept count as he focused solely on Raven.

He didn’t hear the booming entrance Jason or his group made as he kept his eyes on Raven.

“You do not get to die, not after all the shit we’ve been through!” Tim muttered as he looked her over. There was less blood flowing from her wounds, but he couldn’t feel her pulse.

* * *

 

Jason smashed through the warehouse, hopped off his bike and the first thing he saw was Raven having CPR amidst the chaos, a bloodied, probably dying blonde chick, and the Bats fighting the three enemies. Suddenly Bruce was sailing through a cement wall and Jason spun on the assailant as he growled, there was no controlling the Pit now.

“I will make you watch as I slaughter your family and the Heroes will fall,” the man who had hurt B spoke.

“Hey asshole!” Jason roared, and threw a batarang at him. “We ain’t dead yet,” Jason stated.

The man looked stunned at seeing him.

“Predictable.” The man said.

Jason moved fast and low.

Here’s the first thing to understand; despite his size, his bulk, and his weight, Jason was always fast. He had always been fast, faster than people anticipated. This opponent clearly didn’t know that as Jason slammed his weight into the man sending him sprawling into the ground, knocking his hood and mask off before he slammed his fist with the full weight of his fury behind it into the man’s cheek bone.

The man blocked the third punch barely before kicking Jason off of him. Jason rolled to his stomach when he saw the man with knives coming to him. Spinning up to his feet he kicked his leg into the man’s side, his opponent stabbed his lower hip then and went sprawling over the ground. Jason yanked the knife out, not caring about the injury as everything in him went numb with a fiery rage.

The man was up, coming at him, Jason blocked as he tried to stab the man’s chest. His opponent was skilled though as he kept trying to get out of Jason’s range. Jason though had fought more challenging opponents as he tore after the guy.

Keeping his form tight he struggled to get on this guy’s inside to know him off balance. Slamming his elbow up the guy’s jaw Jason sent him stumbling back.

“You are a challenge,” the opponent muttered.

“I’m going to kill you for what you did to Raven,” Jason snarled as he went for the guy again. the other man swung his arm out, Jason dropped back as he twisted his legs up to kick the guy in the chest, his hand hit the ground as Jason shoved his weight back up and came smashing into the guy again.

“I’ll disembowel you for what you did to my family,” he growled as he caught the dazed man’s head and slammed it into his knee to send the opponent sprawling.

The man chuckled as he dragged himself away. “You think you can beat me boy?”

Jason said nothing as he felt the Pit fraying his last nerve before he could snap a reply. Instead, Jason took in a steadying breath, and then the world took a green haze as he felt it. The man pulled another knife and Jason felt the lethal rage of the Pit come, and that edge in his blood had him smirking.

The man threw a knife at him, Jason leapt for the man as a fury of the Pit demanded he take this challenger’s life pulsed. Feet smashed into his stomach, Jason rolled from the impact. The man was up, and Jason snatched up a discarded shard of something as he went after the man, slashing mercilessly as he tore the man’s arms apart, Jason didn’t feel the bite into his palms as the glass tore him up as well.

The man tripped but kicked out a leg. Jason caught it as he smashed his fist into his opponent’s groin, then slammed his fist against the man’s knee. His opponent grunted as he disappeared, and Jason snarled.

There was a clanging which he didn’t notice, his target was missing. There were shots fired overhead, bits of concrete broke as the rain of bullets hit it, which had Jason diving out of the way for cover. Rolling to his feet he saw the man’s shadow overhead. Pulling a grappling hook, he had swiped Jason went for the roof, taking to the air he released his hook. Soaring over the overwalk he caught it as he released his weight, dropping more then swung up, smashing into the opponent who stumbled back.

Jason heaved a snarl, he could feel the sting of the bullets that had torn through his shoulder and leg, but it didn’t slow him, or phase him, nothing could.

The man rushed him, Jason narrowly evaded getting a fist to the face as he tried to keep his balance, there was a slash over his chest though which cut through the Kevlar and he dropped from the catwalk as he felt it tear through his skin.

Freefalling he tucked to roll when a strong hand caught his arm, Jason held on tight as he could as he was swung to the ground and saw that it was Bruce who had caught him. Bruce was breathing hard, and their opponent landed in front of them.

“You are more challenging than I predicted,” the man stated.

“I’m going to rip your throat out,” Jason avowed.

“Bruce made the first move as he threw a batarang. Jason ran forward, he felt his dad’s hands on his shoulders as Bruce leapt over him, unleashing more weapons on the man. Jason slid then as he kicked upwards, sending the man in the air. Bruce hit him hard, Jason spun up to his feet as he dropped his ruined armor and came at the guy with every lethal move he had.

Bruce moved narrowly out of a fists way, Jason caught it as he broke the man’s elbow, Bruce came up knocking the man’s jaw into an awkward angle. Jason spun low as he hauled the man’s weight over his shoulder and threw him for a wall.

Bruce rushed the man, Jason took that moment to run after Bruce, picking up a discarded knife as he ran.

* * *

 

Roy had run straight for Raven and Tim upon entering the warehouse, and he dropped his bow and arrow as he skidded to his knees and shoved Tim off her. Pressing his ear to Raven’s chest he counted, it took a minute but he heard and felt her heart pump weakly.

“We can’t stop!” Tim was struggling against his hold when Roy sat up.

“Shut up! She doesn’t need CPR, she needs to stop bleeding, and tell me that there’s a Batcopter or something coming because she’s going to need medical care immediately,” Roy said as he pulled off his quiver, dragging out a arrow head, a pure metal one he pulled a lighter and looked at Tim.

“We’re not going to have her blood type, no one does, so we’re going to have to cauterize the wound on her arm, then we can focus on her chest. Trick here isn’t to worry about the normal human things, she’ll heal, she’s a demon, she’s not like us,” Roy said.

Tim blinked dumbly at this.

“What do we do?”

“Got something hot that burns?” Roy asked. Tim suddenly handed him a flare. “That’ll do.”

“You’re not a medic,” Tim muttered.

“No, but aside from Cy I’m the only one with any idea of what to do with her like this,” Roy admitted. He had kind of gotten a crash course in saving Raven’s life when she and Lobo had gone toe to toe and she had nearly killed herself to keep her demon sealed off. And while the rest of the then team had been fighting Komand’r and taking care of an unconscious Dick Grayson, Roy had been the field medic for Raven with Victor in his ear talking him through how to keep her alive.

It was pretty fucking weird.

“So what are we going to do?” Tim asked.

“Get her out of here, stop the bleeding, keep eyes on her breathing, there’s not much we can do,” Roy said as he checked Raven’s breathing then.

It was shallow and it didn’t… she coughed and there was blood bubbling on her lips.

“Fuck! Where’s Our Ride Out Of Here!?” He roared as his shaky hands finished heating up the arrow, he shoved it at Tim who was sitting on her arm and motioned for him to press it on her arm. Raven groaned a bit at this, and more blood bubbled on her lips.

Tim’s optic eyes were wide, and Roy could taste the fear off the kid.

Roy just got to work with his minimal emergency medicine training from Digg. He could all but hear Felicity calmly walking him through the procedure in his head. He had to get Raven’s lung clear, to inflate, else she was going to drown in her blood. His hands trembled as he sliced the white shirt off of her and started feeling her over for the markers he needed.

“Arsenal?” Tim’s voice trembled. “I’m scared.”

“Don’t be, I got this,” Roy lied.

* * *

 

Bruce didn’t feel or see Jason leaping over him, what he saw was a flash of brilliant green behind optic nerves as Jason twirled over him and a glint of metal before there was a knife in the center of Prometheus’s chest and Jason about to slam down on that knife. Bruce knocked his son off balance as he smashed the heel of his hand into Prometheus’ nose to send him stumbling back.

There was an inhuman growl beside him, Bruce barely had a chance to intercept the elbow aimed for his head as he stared at his son.

Jason’s features were contorted in a mask of pure, inhuman fury, he looked more like an enraged animal than a person with the fury emanating off of him. The thing though, beyond Jason’s fury, the thing which captured Bruce’s attention with Jason, was his eyes.

The normally white optic lenses of the domino mask had a faint green glow behind them.

The Pit’s glow.

Bruce blocked a blow aimed for his gut then as he spun out of Jason’s path. Jason grabbed his cape, twisted it in his grasp, Bruce released the cape as he escaped Jason’s range and stared at him. There was a sorrow in Bruce then as he stood.

“Jason,” he spoke softly, and calm as he could, like he would when the boys were younger or had just suffered from a nightmare.

“Get the hell out of my way old man!” Jason snarled. He was bleeding heavily from several wounds, all seemed superficial though, and Bruce knew then that he was in for the fight of his life. Not a thought he relished as he stood tall then.

“No.”

“There are rules,” Jason’s lips curled into a cold, cruel, and sardonic smile then. “I’m going to kill him.”

“You do that and you’re no better than he is,” Bruce warned.

“No, I’m not,” Jason sneered.

Bruce was prepared when Jason came at him, and Jason was stronger and faster than any of his other sons. He noticed it then with how Jason moved, and how difficult it was getting to evade Jason’s punches. His second son was fighting without pulling his punches or holding back. Bruce was impressed. But Bruce also realized that this wasn’t going to be easy.

He did not want to hurt his son.

But he would not let Jason kill another man.

Blocking Jason’s hit he twisted his weight to off balance Jason, but Jason narrowly stayed on his feet as he twisted around kicking. Bruce caught his son’s leg and knocked the other one out from under him as Jason slammed face first into the concrete.

Jason bucked, Bruce barely managed to wrestle Jason down and trap him.

“Let me go!” Jason roared.

“Sh, you need to calm down Jase, this is the Pit.” Bruce tried to sooth as he struggled to keep Jason pinned.

“ ** _I’m Going To Kill Him!_** ” Jason roared as he struggled.

* * *

 

Slade knew he was fucked as soon as he saw Rose, but he was already teetering on the edge of the docks, so he just smirked as he dropped back, letting gravity take him and he slammed into the water. It froze his blood but he was out, and that was enough as he pulled a bit of strength and pushed himself into the currents of Gotham Harbor. Dragged away into the murky sea’s waters before he broke the surface for air again and caught a ship. Once out in the icy air of Gotham’s December he shivered.

Better to live another day than work for that lunatic longer.

* * *

 

Jade took her escape when she saw the slick sports car roll in, there was a shout for help and both the black little bat and the purple bat dropped down. Jade was not hanging around.

* * *

 

Kori landed at Wayne Manor, as she shouldered Lian and Selina and she jogged into the mansion quickly.

The babies were cold, flying hadn’t helped that and Kori trembled as she heated up, feeling her hair roaring in flames.

“We need to warm them up quickly,” Selina gasped.

“Kitchen,” Kori gasped. As she and Selina jogged for through the house. They made it to the kitchen, the warmest room of the house. Setting Lian down momentarily Kori turned on the stove and turned the sink on as hot as she could get it.

Her own heat was radiating in the smaller room.

“What did Raven do?” Selina asked as she was changing Helena and Terry.

“Raven unleashed her demon, I saw her do it only once before,” Kori whispered.

“What happened?” Selina asked.

“Raven nearly died. For real. She tried to kill herself to keep her demon from fully taking over,” Kori sniffled slightly at the memory. Her best friend had tried to kill herself rather than killing all of them, but only after she had torn apart Lobo. Kori had never witnessed Raven’s power like that, not even when Raven had fought her father, the first time.

“She’s not supposed to do that?” Selina said uncertainly.

“Raven said she should not, but she did it, to save us from Lobo and my sister, and now, to let us escape Slade and Tara,” Kori murmured.

“Hey, she’s going to be okay, she’s a Siren now, and we don’t go down easy,” Selina said as she touched her shoulder. Kori looked over at the older, smaller woman.

“I should have stayed, but… I could not,” Kori whispered. “I am the warrior, Raven the pacifist and I left her to…” Kori gasped as she felt her throat tighten.

“You protect your babies first, you’re a mom, Raven knew that,” Selina grabbed her arms.

“But I left my friend to die,” Kori sobbed, and she found herself wrapped up in tight arms as she sagged against the smaller woman. She had left Raven to face Tara, Slade, Jade and that man alone, and all to protect her child and the children.

* * *

 

Damian saw father struggling with Jason and the green glow of Jason’s optic lenses when he and Dick had driven Slade off. Rose Wilson had screamed in fury and Damian ignored her as he looked over at Jason.

“Father! Don’t Hurt Him!” Damian shouted as he ran for his father and Jason. There was a flash of light and he saw the man fall through a portal. There were other portals opening and shutting at random then, Damian observed. Suddenly there was a car falling through the roof, Dick grabbed him as they rolled out of the way.

“What the!?” Dick exclaimed.

“It’s Rae!” Drake shouted.

“What!?” Brown roared.

“It’s Raven, we got to sedate her,” Dick said as he shoved up and was running for Raven.

Damian ran for father who was struggling with Jason still. There were now signs of chaos around them, portals opening and shutting, people, things, creatures all appeared to be tumbling around.

“It’s the Pit, he is not himself!” Damian stated to his father.

“I know.”

“Robin, get the cuffs,” his father grunted as Jason managed to escape enough to elbow father in the gut.

Damian did as he was told, and helped father restrain Jason who roared with fury. He guessed that they had only gotten the upper hand on his brother because Jason was hurt and no longer in control of himself. But he saw father pull Jason against him tight despite Jason’s struggles and try to calm him.

* * *

 

He had used the key for the Phantom Zone to escape again as he stumbled to his hide out. It would not serve to die here, he had underestimated his opponents. Limping up to his home he decided he would crush the heroes later, and he would never again trust another to aid him with this feat.

Because Prometheus did not have the gods toppling in a day.

He would win, not now, but in the long run he would win.

For now though, he would heal and rethink his plans for destroying the Justice League.

* * *

 

Bruce wrapped his arms around his struggling son, it was the first time he had held Jason since he had learned his son was alive, and the man was not like the boy. Still Bruce held on as he tried to calm Jason’s rage, that Pit rage, he had witnessed this very rage in Talia and in Ra’s, it was a dangerous thing.

“Let Me Go!” Jason roared.

“Calm down son,” Bruce murmured in his second son’s ear, the young man stiffened but stilled momentarily. “I need you to calm down Jase, I need you to breath, and to be calm.”

“I’m Not Your Son!” Jason snarled ferally.

“You are, you always are, you’re mine, you’re my boy, my child, my son,” Bruce whispered harshly as he felt the truth of that statement sink in.

“I’m not a boy!” Jason hissed.

“You’re my son. And I need you to calm down. He’s gone, the threat is gone. We’re safe, your brothers are safe, your sisters are safe, we’re safe.” Bruce whispered over and over as he fely his son slowly relax.

“Quick, we got to get her to the Cave,” Bruce heard a voice shout.

“Rae?”

“She’s hurt bad, but she’s safe, when you’re in control we’ll leave,” Bruce promised. He watched his other children scatter, all but Damian, and Damian stood there trembling. Jason said nothing for a long while and Bruce just held on. He was never letting his son go again.

* * *

 

“I’m taking Tara to the hospital, call BB and have him there for Tara,” Dick spoke into his comms as he ran over to Tara’s prone form. The slashes made her look like she had been mauled by a tiger or bear or something. They were deep, to the bone deep, but it appeared no arteries were hit. Just a lot of blood.

“I’m calling him, you’re cycles should be there,” Barbara spoke.

“O, call the JL, get someone here to watch Tara,” Dick said as he lifted the petite blonde up from her blood.

“On t, can I ask why though?”

“Because if I watch her I’ll kill her,” Dick growled. There was little doubt in Dick’s mind as to WHY Tara was here, and he didn’t like it.

Didn’t like it at all.

He would have to talk to Garfield about this at the hospital.

But first, he had to get her to the hospital.


	25. A Time Of Forgiveness

Damian waited, far enough away to be patient, but close enough that he could see Jason and father, keep a guard as the family had gone away to take care of Raven and their other casualties. He couldn’t figure out how to help, he had never had to help Jason and the Pit’s rage.

His grandfather’s rages were uncontrollable, no one could stop his grandfather, the only thing anyone could do was get the hell out of the way.

His mother’s rages were rare, but when they came they came like a cold fury which no one could stop. It was like his mother would turn to ice.

But Jason’s… Damian hadn’t seen this kind of rage, but all the indicators of the Pit were there. The brilliant, glowing green eyes, the animal rage, the way that the Jason was holding himself. No doubt that if Jason lost control, for real, there’d be no stopping him.

Wilson moved towards father and Jason then, which had Damian dropping down before her, his sword in hand. The silver woman glared at him behind her own mask and he sensed her malice towards Jason. Damian didn’t want his brother dead.

“Back away,” he snarled.

“Out of the way twerp,” Wilson snapped.

“No.”

The woman stood there glaring at him dangerously, but he could take her. It wasn’t like Wilson was League of Assassin’s material, he could take her, of this he was certain as he held his ground.

“THIS ISN’T OVER JAY!” Wilson shouted before she ran off. Damian waited until he was sure she was gone before he turned to father who had a slumped Jason in his arms.

“What is wrong with him?” Damian demanded as he ran over, sheathing his weapon. Dropping to his knees he looked at Jason, Jason was merely slumped over, but his breathing relaxed and there didn’t appear to be green in his eyes that the optic lenses were showing.

“Get off me,” Jason growled lowly. “I’m not rabid anymore,” he snapped as he shoved away from father’s grasp. Damian slipped around to support his brother’s hip when Jason staggered, and father stood slowly.

“Get off!” Jason tried to shake him off.

“No! You imbecile you are hurt!” Damian snapped.

“I’ll be fine!” Jason snapped and Damian stumbled back as he was shoved off his brother.

“Father!” Damian turned to his father at the obvious ineptness of his idiotic brother’s choices only to see his father watching Jason carefully.

“Robin, return to the Cave, Now,” his father snapped. There was no room for arguing with his father’s voice like that. With reluctance Damian looked back at Jason who’s back was too him before he jogged for a bike and took the quick route to the Cave.

The temptation to defy father and remain was overwhelming but Damian did not think it would be wise to push his father’s boundaries when his father’s tone was **_THAT_** tone. The tone reserved for Jordan or Queen. Yes, Damian had snooped and heard some JL teleconferences.

* * *

 

Bruce watched Jason’s form carefully as Jason stood there before him, his broad back to him. This was the tricky thing about Jason, at least when his son had been a boy he’d been more open about his emotions, the man though was quick to sarcasm or anger, not much else was displayed though. The Pit’s Rage had been visible and Bruce knew the dangers of stepping between Jason and the object of his Rage when he had. That was the dangerous thing about the Pit’s Rages, they weren’t stoppable.

Ra’s al Ghul had never stopped them, and Talia’s, when hers would come, was also unstoppable.

“Just stand away,” Jason snapped when Bruce moved to check his son’s bleeding wounds. “Stay away.”

“Jason,” Bruce started carefully, knowing that this part of the docks would have long since vacated when Raven’s own power had started and definitely when the Bats had descended upon it. There was no thermal readings of people here, nor was there any readings of life at all beyond stray cats and other animals here.

“Back Off!” Jason snapped, his eyes had a green glow when he glared; his domino mask was broken enough to see an eye.

“Son,” Bruce started again as he stood where he was. It was the first time he had a chance to really look at Jason, it was just him and his son, no one else there. No one there to take him, no one there to interfere or distract him. Bruce took this moment to memorize the features of his second child again.

Strong jaw line, squared, high sharp cheek bones, a nose slightly crooked, sharp eyes that were predatory like with their gaze, dark brows to match, a fuller bottom lip than upper, and an untraditional handsomeness. There were nicks, imperfect scars that were marring his face, two on his nose stood out against the freckles there. There was a nasty one on his chin, a few around his mouth, a couple on his cheek, a deep one on his temple. The dark hair of his son was shortly cropped, though the slight curl of it could be seen. The city’s lights brought the midnight hair’s undertones to light, the reds and browns of Jason’s hair, and that white streak stubbornly flopping in his face still. There was a rough stubble on Jason’s jaw, like no one had ever properly taught him how to shave and he didn’t care enough to get a clean shave.

“Who taught you how to shave?” Bruce finally asked which had Jason stiffening in obvious surprise as his son’s eyes finally landed on him. The one exposed eye that Bruce could see was that green, that unnerving, unsettling green. Jason’s eyes had never been green before his death. They’d been blue, cobalt blue, not the bright blue Dick’s were, nor the true blue Tim’s were, or even the ice blue like his own eyes were, Jason’s had always been cobalt blue. Now they were tinted with a green in them. They kind of reminded Bruce of Damian's eyes, that hazel tint that Damian's eye had that green-blue teal like color, except Jason’s green tints were just another scar. Like those white bangs were a scar, as were the other little nicks and marks on his face.

“I did.” his son stammered this, looking timid and unsure then.

“You need to relearn,” Bruce stated bluntly. Jason just stared at him like he had lost his mind.

“What the fuck do you care about it!?” Jason spat out.

“I care,” Bruce said levelly.

He had always cared. He had wanted so badly to watch Jason grow up, and he hadn’t had the chance. The man before him was just as tall as he was, probably heavier, just as thick through the shoulders, narrower in the chest and hips, but Bruce had missed this! Missed seeing Jason grow up, missed teaching Jason to drive, going to school functions, helping with homework, bickering over colleges Jason could go to. Bruce had missed it! He had been going through it with Dick, the fights and seeing Dick grow up, he was experiencing it with Tim, and even had a chance with Damian. Bruce had been watching it with Cassandra, and witnessed it with Barbara, hell, he had even been watching Stephanie grow up and Stephanie wasn’t even his kid! Now for the first time ever he was going to see Terry and Helena grow up, from babies (none of his boys had been babies when they were his boys), and he could watch it all again. But he had missed it with Jason.

Missed all of it. Except those brief years Jason had been with him.

Jason snorted at his statement.

“Jay,” Bruce started.

“Fuck off!” Jason snarled. “I don’t know what you’re after! I don’t know what you want from me!” Jason roared.

“Nothing,” Bruce whispered. **_My Son!_** his mind screamed but he didn’t say it. He didn’t want to have his boy running off though, so he kept it silent.

“Then what the fuck does it matter how I shave!?” Jason spat.

“Jason,” Bruce ignored everything about Jason that screamed to stay away from him right then, and gingerly he clasped his son’s shoulder. He never wanted to let his son go but clinging to Jason was the fastest way to have Jason running off. “You’re my son, you are my child, and I… I love you, son.”

“WHY!?” Jason spat out venomously.

“You’re my son,” Bruce stated harshly as his voice felt jagged and he stared at Jason, bleeding, and standing there looking torn between punching someone or running. Bruce would prefer neither to happen, but if it came down to the two instincts he’d rather have Jason punch him than run away.

“But I was running away, I let everyone down,” Jason whispered.

“I don’t care about that Jason, you never let us down. Never. And you were a child, I… I should have been a better father,” he admitted tightly.

“Not then,” Jason whispered.

* * *

 

Walking into the Cave he saw Roy and Tim monitoring Raven, he paused a moment before walking up to them.

“How is she?” Dick asked.

“Leslie’s coming,” Tim said. “But all vitals are reading strong, low, but strong and steady. The big thing is the blood loss. We cauterized her wrist, and chest.”

“Not much to do now,” Roy muttered. “Just have to wait for her demon nature to kick start her healing.”

Dick looked down on her then, her ruby was on the center of her brow again.

“I’m going up now, to get Lian,” Roy said as he jogged off.

“Alfred announced that the girls had the babies and they were safe in the kitchen,” Tim said.

“I’m changing and heading up,” Dick said. “Call me if her status changes, even in the slightest.” Changing into a wife beater, sweats was as far as Dick got as he tossed his domino mask aside then ran up the stairs, five at a time. When in the house he charged for the kitchen.

“Kori!” he shouted bursting through the door, she turned and he caught her tight as he swung her up as much he could before pulling her down for a hard kiss; his fat lip stung but he ignored it. He saw Roy from the corner of his eye hugging Lian and Selina holding Helena while carding her fingers through Terry’s hair.

“Dick!” Kori gasped.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry for… for everything!” he gasped.

“This was Slade’s fault, not yours,” she stated firmly.

“Rae’s in the medbay,” Dick said as Kori’s brow rested on his, he noticed then she was wearing one of her sexy silk numbers. They had been snatched from their beds! The outrage had him wanting to track Slade down and beat the shit out of him.

“I know, I know where she is, Roy said so when he walked in.”

“She’s going to be okay,” he assured her. Raven had to be alright, she had to be.

“I know, I know, she survived worse,” Kori murmured.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he looked down to where their child was within her then back at her eyes.

“Yes, we are fine,” she said softly. “We are fine.”

“Thank God,” he muttered.

“X’hal was merciful, he did not want us, he wanted Raven.” Kori murmured sadly.

“You’re both alright, you’re alright,” he repeated. Dick just sighed feeling like there was a weight lifted off of his chest. He caught how Selina was looking at him but he didn’t care as he just held onto Kori. Dick didn’t like knowing that tonight he could have lost it all, his family, his girl, his child, his world, this was everything to him. It was something so much more than he could even describe.

“We’re alright,” Kori reassured him.

“I love you,” he said again, and saw Kori smile then.

* * *

 

“What?” Bruce asked.

“I… I was leaving, tonight,” Jason admitted, and then it as like the world robbed him of air as he shook then curled into himself. “I lied! This is all my fault! I got her killed! I… I’m a coward!” he gasped.

The panic was clawing at his insides as he tore through his chest, freezing his blood, constricting his chest and he couldn’t breathe! He couldn’t breathe!

He had gotten Raven killed! This was his fault! He killed his only friend because he couldn’t take it! Couldn’t handle the stress of being here! She was dying because of him! He had put his family in danger! He had… he had run away again! And this time he hadn’t been the one to die! Oh God! Oh God! What sort of monster was he! How could he…? That was his only friend! And he had gotten her killed! He had left! Oh shit! He couldn’t breathe! He couldn’t think! He could only see her laying in her own blood, and oh the rage he had felt seeing his friend like that.

“Jase, Jason, Jaylad, my boy, son!” Bruce’s voice was distant, and Jason fell back then. He grunted hitting the rubble, but it didn’t hurt as he clung to his scalp burying his face in his knees.

He had failed! Again! This was his fault! All of it!

“I killed her! Again!” he managed. He could see her, her light hair tangled, brilliant blue eyes and that sunny smile. He had killed her! He had killed her! All over again he had failed and gotten the person he cared about killed.

“Jason, Raven isn’t dead,” a voice shouted, it sounded murky and distant. Like a voice above the water he was drowning in.

“I killed them! I failed, I…” he gasped. He could see her, covered in her blood, staining the street beneath her. The image morphed, she wasn’t sprawled over the streets anymore. The girl was laying awkwardly, brokenly, her dark hair spilled around her, her face one of apathy, bruised, and dark eyes. The blood, all that blood. She was so small! Was she supposed to have that much blood!? Yes, he knew she was, he knew how much blood the human body had, but still. It was staining the street, it was staining the broken ground, it was so dark, red, why was it there. She shouldn’t be dying.

There were strong arms around him and Jason cried out at their pressure.

“You’re safe, you’re alright, lets get you up, to the Cave,” he heard the voice ordering.

“I killed them,” he whimpered out.

“Raven’s alive, Selina is alive, Kori is alive, Lian is alive, Helena is alive, Terry is alive,” the voice was repeating.

Jason couldn’t take it as he cried out in agony. He had failed again! Goddamn it! He had failed again! He couldn’t think past the blood.

All that blood!

“I’m a coward, I failed her! I lied. I ran away,” He repeated.

“JASON!” a voice snapped, which had his head snapping up as he shook where he stood.

“Everyone is alive, you didn’t fail, you didn’t run, everyone is here,” Bruce stated, it was only now that Jason noticed that Bruce’s cowl was off. His icy blue eyes were boring back into Jason’s, his face was covered in grime, his black hair was gray at the temples, and matted with sweat.

“I ran!” Jason shouted.

“You’re back!”

“WHAT DO YOU CARE!” Jason roared again as he shoved at Bruce’s chest, ignoring the pain of his arms which felt like they had been sliced to ribbons.

“Because You Are My Son!” Bruce shouted back grabbing his elbows firmly with a jolt Jason found himself looking at Bruce. Really looking at Bruce. “You’re Mine! My Child! My Son! My Boy!”

“You Didn’t Want Me! You Wanted Dick!” Jason spat out venomously. Then he found himself trapped a stronger body captured him and strong arms wrapped around him, gloved hands were in his hair which had him stiffening.

“I wanted you, Jason, I love Dick, I love you, I love all of you, and I will spend all my life saying that if you need it. I am sorry… for everything,” Bruce said tightly, haltingly; like each word was foreign on his tongue. Jason just stared at the wall. The fingers slid through his hair and he could feel the fingers snagging on the tangles, despite his hair being short.

“I ran away,” he muttered. “I lied. I was leaving. She’s… she’s dead because I lied.”

“No one is dead,” Bruce said pulling away. Jason looked at the ground. He had lied to Raven. He had lied to her. He had left, how was he supposed to live with that? Raven was so badly hurt because he had left. She might be dead, and B wasn’t telling him.

“I let my friend down,” Jason muttered.

“Let’s go home, Jason,” Bruce said pulling the cowl back on and Jason numbly allowed himself be guided into the Batmobile. He had let Raven down, he had broken a promise to stay there. This was all his fault. He didn’t know how he was going to face that.

The drive was in silence, Jason just pulled off his domino mask as he stared out the window, clenching his hands and unclenching as he tried to focus on the breathing exercises Alfred had taught him as a kid. Jason stared at his reflection in disgust.

He had left her.

She was going to hate him.

And he couldn’t fault her if she did hate him. He had broken a promise to her, and if she hated him… He’d take it. He didn’t want her to hate him, but he could take it. He’d get it. He had let her down and broke his promise to her.

“She’s going to hate me,” he muttered.

A hand touched his arm gently and then it was gone as they drove to the Cave.

* * *

 

Tim had changed into civvies, wearing fleece pants, wool socks, a heavy sweatshirt, and his hair was pulled back a bit by one of Stephanie’s forgotten clips. Everyone was upstairs, there wasn’t any reason to be down here. Raven wasn’t moving, she wasn’t even stirring. Her vitals were strengthening though, steadily, slowly but steadily. It looked like there were slight burn impressions being remade on her skin as she healed; after he had washed the blood off. They were runes he didn’t recognize at all.

The Batmobile came roaring into the Cave, slow and steady, but that engine roared as it was parked.

Bruce was out, he pulled off his cowl and Tim noticed Jason being helped out.

“Raven’s stable, her vitals are improving, Leslie said she’d be by in two hours or so for x-rays and a double check. I called Vic, but he and the Amazons are still on that mission, J’onn said he’d pass the word though,” Tim said when they came into range.

“She’s… alive…?” Jason whispered uncertainly as he limped over, Tim caught his brother just when Jason’s knee gave out and his big brother pitched forward.

“Whoa! Yeah! She’s alive!” Tim huffed, struggling with Jason’s weight. What the Hell! Jay was easily bigger than B! The weight was gone, and Tim blinked seeing Bruce pulling Jason’s arm around his shoulder.

“Let’s get you patched up Jay, after Leslie we’ll move her to a room,” Tim said.

Bruce grunted. Jason just blinked, his eyes still seemed not to be believing what he was seeing. Not that Tim could blame him. He had honestly thought Raven was dead a few times on the way here. But she was alive, which was a massive relief.

Ungodly pale, very sickly looking, and that wound on her wrist, the one on her ribs… those blooming bruises, she should be a corpse with how she looked. But she was breathing.

Tim moved his friend’s errant hair off her face.

She twitched a bit before she shifted, there was a whimper of pain before she was still, the lax again.

Patching up Jason didn’t take pain medication, which freaked Tim out as his elder brother didn’t even flinch when the needle was pulled through his skin, or alcohol used to clean off his wounds. No, Jason just sat there like it wasn’t important what was happening, like the pain wasn’t there for him.

It wasn’t until he heard Bruce’s sharp inhale that he noticed the scars littering Jason’s back. Yeah, sure, Tim knew Jay had scars, they all did, but none of them had shit like that.

There were burns, whips, blades, bullets, shrapnel, cuts, and what looked like road rash. It looked like Jason’s body had been through hell and back, the scars marring his skin. They made it… personal, somehow, because these weren’t scars anyone knew the stories too.

Tim sewed up the deepest cuts on Jason’s hands before Jason started cleaning and wrapping his own knuckles. It was eerie how level Jason was about this.

* * *

 

Kori walked down to the Cave, an hour after she was sure Dick was sedated. Yes, Kori had sedated him. Asked Alfred for help because not sedating him was unhealthy for Dick. Dick was wired up and she knew there was no way she’d be leaving his sight any time soon.

However, now she silently floated down to the Cave, she floated so as not to make a sound.

Bruce was down here, Selina, Helena, and Terry were curled up with Bruce at the computer. Tim was sleeping too. She saw the slumped over form of Jason beside the bed. Jason appeared to be sedated as well, she knew the signs having sedated Dick a few times.

Raven’s pale form was startling, her bandages were staining red, but they were startling white in contrast to her skin where the blood wasn’t touching her. It was now that Kori noticed Raven wasn’t wearing a shirt; her entire chest was bandaged, and her wrist, the dark scarlet stain of her blood stood out. Landing gently, Kori stood at Raven’s head as she carefully drew her friend’s hair back.

“Thank you friend Raven,” Kori murmured. “I know the cost of your demon. It’s too high, but thank you for protecting my child and Dick’s family.”

There was not a single sound from Raven, not a single blip on her machines to indicate that she had heard what was said. But Kori knew, Raven heard and felt everything.

Gently she leaned over her best friend’s brow and brushed her lips to Raven’s brow before pulling away.

“If you ever do something like this again, friend Raven, I will blast you myself,” Kori avowed before she stopped in front of Jason. He was covered in bandages, he shivered a bit, and she noticed the blanket pooling around his lap. She pulled it up and around his shoulders before touching his hair and pulling away.

Flying up to the house she put on the image ring again.

Kori did not know what she would have done if Raven had not done what she had. Kori hadn’t ever felt as vulnerable as that moment when she had heard she was trapped in power dampeners. Her child, her baby, it was in danger and she couldn’t protect it! That alone had frozen her.

Then there was Raven, and Raven had done something so dangerous, something she had avowed to never do again, and she had done it intentionally with every lethal intent ever. Kori knew the cost of Raven’s demon. Raven hadn’t feared the cost.

But Kori felt it was too damn high.

The pain of the cost had tears streaming down Kori’s cheeks as she choked back the sobs and fell to her knees heaving for breath. She had almost lost her best friend! She had almost lost her child and her family! The weight of that was crushing as she tried to catch her breath.

* * *

 

Garfield walked into Gotham General, after a call from a JL member saying Nightwing had dumped his girlfriend here. It was almost dawn, and he walked in to see Tara, bloody, torn up, and pale in a massive hospital bed and glaring out the window.

Gar stuffed his hands in his pockets. He knew exactly what had happened; Oracle had given him the dump of what had happened. And Gar wasn’t as dumb as everyone thought he was; he knew the rest from educated guesses.

Clearing his throat he saw Tara turn to him, then she relaxed a bit.

“Gar!” she smiled.

“Tara,” he replied coldly as he walked to stand at the edge of her hospital bed. “I know what you did, Tara. Even if they can’t prove it, yet, I know.”

“I…”

“Shut up!” he snapped icily as his eyes narrowed dangerously on her. her mouth slammed shut. “How could you?”

“Because she was taking you from me!” Tara hissed. “That evil demon witch was stealing you from me! And you were just going along!”

“Raven?” Garfield sputtered.

“Yeah, Raven, Miss Perfect. She’s really a monster, and none of you see that!” Tara sneered.

“Shut up, Tara!” Garfield snapped.

“SHE IS! She’s The Demon!” Tara shouted.

“I Said Shut Up Tara!” Garfield barked, and he saw her cower then. He was aware he’d used the Beast’s alpha voice. “I don’t have a shot with Raven, even if I wanted her! And I don’t want her! I wanted to talk to my friend! I needed someone to talk to.”

“Yeah right, Talk to her about what? Us? I’ve seen how you watch her,” Tara scoffed.

“Yeah actually, about us. About you and me. And I don’t watch her! Raven’s… Rae brought you back to me, because she loved me more than us. Rae tried to help you because I asked her to. God!” Garfield shook his head as he gave an unamused snort. He could see where Raven could call him an ass here. He was her ex; he had done everything in his power as a teen to exert power over her, belittling her, crippling her, sharp jabs where he could, all to make her less. Despite all the times he’d try to patch up the damage he had done to her, he knew, he knew that he had wrecked him and Raven, they were too young, too stupid, too ignorant. And now! Now she wouldn’t take less than whatever she felt she deserved; and Garfield feared he had set her standards pretty damn low because of what he had done when they were idiot teens.

However, Raven was actually doing better than he ever could in the relationship department.

Even if she wasn’t actually dating Jason.

“Oh, Tara you’re an idiot,” he chuckled humorlessly. “I destroyed Rae, I made it my mission to make her feel like a freak and unwanted, and like I was the only one for her. Freaks belong with other freaks, right?” he mocked tiredly. “Yeah, took a lot of years to realize what the hell I’d done to her. The fucking damage I did. Oh, she hurt me too, but me, I made it my mission to destroy her in a way I can’t even explain ‘cause I can’t tell you **_WHY_** I did it! I can’t!

“And still, _still!_ , Raven proved to be better than **_ANY_** of us! Demon or not.

“I broke her heart Tara, and you know what she did? She brought you to life, from stone! She did that, to make me happy, because she thought I loved you. And I thought I loved you, guess I did at one point, but there’s something, something about you and me that’s just broke. I don’t know how long it’s been broke.

“I wanted to talk to Raven about it, you know, my ex, the girl I hurt, the girl who could still grace me; the monster, the actual beast, with her friendship, because she’s good at this. At helping people, at getting to the heart of people, because that’s what Raven does. She sees through the illusions, the lies, the crap and sees people for who they are. She’s always seen everyone around her, and she hangs around us, I think that makes her pretty fucking amazing.

“I wanted to talk with my friend, one of the best friends I’ve ever had, even if we were for shit as boyfriend and girlfriend, she’s always been one of my best friends. And I wanted to talk to her, about trying to fix us, fix us! Fix You, And Me, Tara. But now, you…” he growled in frustration as his hands fisted. Waving them up in surrender he turned to walk out.

“Gar wait!” Tara shouted.

“Fuck NO!” he spun on her with a roar which had Tara cowering in her bed. He could feel his darker instincts pulsing forward dangerously. “Fuck No, Tara. We’re done. We Are Done. Don’t bother coming back to San Francisco, don’t come back to the Titans, I never ever want to see you again. Ever. And if You Ever, Think to come after Raven, or my family, or friends ever again, Tara, I won’t hold back. You stay the FUCK away from her.”

Garfield walked out then, he couldn’t stay else he’d kill her.

Raven wasn’t his girl anymore, she would NEVER be his girl again. Hell, he didn’t think he could ever win her back, not that he wanted to. Raven wasn’t his girl, wasn’t the girl who could ever be his. He was pretty sure she had a colony of Bats ready to defend her. Especially a very dangerous Bat who was twice Garfield’s size and just oozed that alpha power of killer, protector, fighter. Yeah, Garfield doubted very much he stood a chance with Raven with Jason as her friend.

Also, Victor would so blast him after the last time he had broken Raven’s heart.

Garfield hailed a cab and intended to go see his friend, make sure she was okay, he knew that her unleashing that much power; while rare, was painful for her. And Raven had always; despite everything that could be going on between them; been his friend. One of his best friends too.


	26. Peace on Earth

The last thing she remembered was the power flying out of Metropolis when she was brushing her hair, flying north towards Gotham. Talia put her brush down as she walked towards the window. There was a blast, a pillar of light, opening the balcony she stepped out and then there was a gasp from her as the power seemed to be racing towards her knocking her back against the wall.

Hitting her head, the world went black.

What roused her wasn’t known. A groan slipped from her as she arched, there was a cold chilling her and she shivered as she brought her hand to her head.

There was a crack of dawn’s light filtered through the balcony. Gasping for air she slowly got to her knees.

‘ ** _…And In Other News_** _It has been revealed that the power outage that lasted a minute to fifteen seconds was a world wide black out. Satellites from Wayne Enterprise, S.T.A.R. Labs, and LexCorp, have shown all the power being drained to Gotham City, no word from the Justice League or the Batman about the events that happened or if the world can expect more of these anomalies…_ ’

Her phone rang and Talia scrambled for the burner that she had provided Luthor with.

“Miss Head, my office in an hour!” Luthor demanded.

“Yes sir,” she replied levelly before looking back at the news at the images they were showing. That was a lot of power, and she had a bad feeling about it. Talia shut her apartment balcony against the Delaware cold before she could further freeze to death. Oh how she loathed this country’s winters, she despised the cold! She had probably only survived last night because she wore three fleece pajamas just to keep warm, even in this heater-controlled apartment.

Readying for the day she noticed a small cut on her brow and quickly arranged her hair to drop over it.

Bundling up she was loaded up in the car Luthor had obviously sent for her; in the back she sat there shivering as she sat in the back of the Mercedes. Getting to LexCorp’s tower she walked out of the car and hurried into the warm building. Shedding her coat she walked to the private elevator before riding up.

Talia tried not to worry about what that light had meant or that it had been in Gotham where her beloved was keeping her heir. No, Talia did not think about it for many reasons. Until the elevator dinged and she walked out to Luthor’s office only to not see him there. His secretary was not there either. Her green eyes narrowed at the insult of having to be kept waiting when she heard a voice.

There was a crack in the paneling of the office, silently she slipped a knife into her hand as she soundlessly moved to it.

Pausing at the crack she managed to peek inside. There was a room of monitors, these monitors were bright, white light figures on the screens and Lex sat there in the middle of it.

“That was not anything from my end,” a modulated female voice stated.

“I was told it was Magic,” another modulated voice stated.

“I have never witnessed such power,” a different said.

“Our Ally has said nothing for this to be his power.”

“This changes nothing,” Luthor stated icily.

“You said that when Two died, and our alliance with the League of Assassins died with the siblings’ war,” the female voice snapped again.

“And the League of Assassins is being handled,” Luthor stated. “Right now, I have tentatively formed an alliance with the recognize heir, I will bring the League of Assassins to heel again.”

“And if the Assassins war should continue?”

“The we will just have to take it by force,” the largest light spoke which had Talia stiffening.

“Either way, preparations shall not be halted.”

“Seven, do you have anything to say about the Magic Five spoke of?”

 “If it is what I think it is… Let the Games Begin!” a modulated child’s voice cackled.

“And What is that supposed to mean?” the woman snapped.

“I means we shall have to work harder at eliminating the League and heroes alike, seek out Prometheus Seven, he should be able to see the Light,” the largest blob of light spoke.

“And the portals that have unleashed… something?”

“It is time to see what happened last night, Three, investigate this,” the large blob demanded.

“I shall, with interest,” Luthor replied, and Talia could all but hear his smile.

“Soon the world shall see the Light, but for now, remain in the shadows,” the largest blob demanded.

“All hail the Light,” Luthor purred.

Talia hurried to the elevator, thankful for the lack of cameras here. stepping into the elevator she went down three floors as she thought through what had just been revealed to her. She would bide her time, and see how this played out. pressing up on the elevator she waited as she composed herself enough to face Luthor then.

The elevator dinged again, and she walked out as she looked up to Lex Luthor who had taken a seat at his office desk.

“Luthor, I was not expecting this call this morning, perhaps I can ask what happened?” she asked.

“Aside from that power beam taking the world’s power away for a minute?” he asked. Standing he poured them brandy, she accepted the sniffer.

“Mmm, and I am your Chief Operating Officer, what do you need me for?” she asked with a lusty purred.

“I have found few women’s company tolerable in my life, and after the previous night at the Wayne Gala I have come to include your company on that list,” Lex stated.

“Should I be flattered?” she asked amusedly as she took a tentative sip of that alcohol after he had downed his drink.

“You should, I need you to investigate something in Smallville for me Miss Head, I have sensors out world wide and they went off last night during that anomaly.”

“Sensors for what?”

“Phantom Matter, they lit of up in Smallville, Kansas,” he smiled.

“And what am I looking for?” she asked.

“Whatever doesn’t belong Miss Head,” he answered.

Talia would snoop into the Light later, for now she was going to do what she needed to get Luthor to trust her fully.

* * *

 

Sebastian walked on the docks of Gotham that icy morning, as he felt the breeze ruffle his hair, he looked at the ruins of a warehouse. One that obviously been hit by the beam of light. Waling into it, in the weak light of the Gotham’s morning light he looked around.

“It was here,” he smiled as he came to the crater, the runes were there, in the blood.

“The girl bled herself dry,” she observed.

“That is the strength of our savior’s mother, the mother of MY children,” he said.

“I am aware,” Mayhem hummed serenely. He looked at the blood and smiled. Between the gathered stolen equipment from A.R.G.U.S.’s Cadmus, now this… His future wife was making it easy to follow her will, and her law.

Trigon’s daughter was handing him the way to create her, to save her.

“Collect all the blood that is hers,” he ordered.

“And what will we do with it?” Mayhem asked him.

“We will bid our time, and wait. But there is a geneticist who will help our cause,” he said levelly.

He would rebirth her, she could be grateful. He would give her the body befitting of a Queen. Give her the body she should have had to start with. He would show the world their Queen, let them awe in her beauty that he would bestow her.

He’d love her body, worship it’s reborn form, she would never know another’s touch beyond his own, and he would se to it that she would never know another’s touch. The swine who had dared to kiss her would never breath when he was finished with him. When he took his place at her side and claimed his rightful wife, his only wife.

Trigon’s only daughter was to his.

She would be the love of his life, and even if he had to bestow a better, untainted, untouched body to her, one that showed her as the Queen she was, then so be it. Raven would bow to him, weep for his love, and worship him for gracing her with everything she should have had since her birth.

His father had been a fool being bewitched by Angela.

The real power was Raven.

“My wife’s chambers must be prepared, and we will have to bide out time for the right moment,” he stated.

“Yes, of course, the preparations shall begin,” Mayhem agreed.

“Eliminate the evidence we were here, but take all the blood,” he ordered as he walked away. He would have to return to his island home for the time being. But the wheels were in motion as science would meet magic.

* * *

 

Sheila walked the airport with the man she had just met, he was a rather sickly looking man. White hair, paler skin, pink eyes. His features spoke of an Arab decent, but they were also European.

“Who are you?” Sheila asked.

“I am Dusan al Ghul,” he repeated the name like it was supposed to mean something to her, but Sheila slowed beside him in the hanger. He looked over at her, as he pulled off the sunglasses he hadn’t really removed when they were walking outside. “Forgive me, I am an old man, not prone to remembering the niceties of society when I do not have time. I wish to give you back your son though.”

“I… It’s alright,” Sheila assured him tentatively. She knew now she was with a dangerous man but she couldn’t find it in her to run.

“You and I have a common enemy, you help keep me alive, and I, in turn will return your son to you,” Dusan stated.

“And how are you going to do that?” she asked tentatively. “If you know anything about my son then you’d know who has him!”

“Ah, the Batman,” Dusan stated humorlessly.

“What do you know of the Batman?” she sneered in disgust.

“Everything,” he answered. “I am the first born son of Ra’s al Ghul, I was rejected, because I am albino. My father took a liking to my sisters, and their potential suitors.

“My sister, and my half sister attracted strong men who my father favored. My half sister, Nyssa, she showed my father Oliver Queen, a man who is brash, impulsive, merciless, and emotional. He was strong, agile, and very good with the arrows. My father favored the blonde American but he could not control Oliver Queen, Oliver was another failure, especially after Nyssa died. I killed her and her lover for their abomination of a relationship. Nyssa loved Sara, not her suitor selected by father, but that American slut. Still, father favored Nyssa, though I redeemed Nyssa with a well placed bomb.

“However, it was my younger sister, Talia who was of actual success, she captured father’s perfect heir. She caught the heart of the Batman. Bruce Wayne, a man who was a perfect warrior, cold of heart, cool logic, merciless, but he wasn’t a killer. For all the power the man had, he was not a killer. But still, father claimed him as the first son, and heir to what was rightfully mine.

“But I was not the failure my father had deemed me to be and cast me aside for. I found the perfect woman, a lethal woman of grace and beauty, we sired a child. Talia and Bruce they sired their child soon after.

“I presented my father with his first born grandchild, but I had failed again.

“I presented my father with a granddaughter, not a grandson, and my sister with her nonkiller husband had birthed a son.

“I will destroy the League of Assassins, and the Bats for all they have done to me, and my daughter. I will reclaim my birthright, and sit atop my thrown to command the League of Assassins. But to do that, I need a doctor to keep me alive until I can bathe in the Pit once more,” he said.

“You need me to keep you alive?” Sheila said.

“You help me, my dear, and I will give you your son again.”

“What are you going to do?”

“The Leviathan is coming to destroy all who oppose us. I will destroy the Bats, I will tear their Clan apart and walk through their cold corpses to my birthright, but I will spare your son,” he smiled.

“The Leviathan?”

“That is what we are called,” he answered.

“Father, the jet is ready,” a coarse voice stated. Sheila looked over at child as she walked over, a young tween girl. Her black hair was raggedly cropped, her eyes were brilliant green, her skin the fine tan of the sun, and her face one of beauty. But there was something rather monsterlike about the girl, like she was less than human somehow. Sheila looked back to Dusan.

“Are you in or are you out?” he asked.

“You’re going to kill the Bats?”

“Yes.”

“Just spare my son, I’ll keep you alive,” Sheila decided as she walked past Dusan, her bag in tow as she headed for the jet.

Sheila did not care how, or even why he was doing what he was doing, all she wanted was her son and Bruce Wayne to be destroyed. Once she was situated on the plane she looked over at the girl. There were four other youths on the plane with them and she looked out the window.

“Dr. Sheila Haywood, I have been most rude and neglected to introduce you to my daughter,” Dusan spoke as they started taxiing onto the runway. “Mara al Ghul, the rightful heir to the League of Assassins, leader of the Demon’s Fist and soon, the Demon’s Head.”

Mara just glared at her, and Sheila said nothing. She would save Jason from the Batman, she would she had no choice but to save her son. He was her child. Not Bruce’s. She would not fail him again and leave him with that sociopath.

Sheila watched as Gotham shrunk into a distant nightmare of hellish cold and snow while they headed over the Atlantic.

“Where are we going?”

“Benghazi, Libya,” Dusan answered.

“What is in Benghazi?” she asked icily.

“No man’s land,” he answered. “It will be the one place the League of Assassins does not go, nor will they seek us out there. There Leviathan will grow, and we will take Gotham by storm when the time is right.”

“Just spare Jason.”

“Keep me alive and your son will be spared.”

She nodded to that. She didn’t care how the others perished, but Jason would return home with her. Where he belonged.

He was Her son.

* * *

 

Selina roused when she heard Alfred come down into the Cave. Selina was very comfortable on Bruce’s lap, stretched up and over his shoulder. Her babies were safely sleeping on the makeshift nursery, the old footlocker was where they were snuggling together. Helena and Terry both slept, which had her softening and stiffening.

 ** _When The HELL Had She EVER Thought Of ANY Of Bruce’s Other Kids (minus Jason and Tim) As Hers!?_** Her eyes flicked to Damian who was sleeping besides a covered-up Jason, who was beside the medbay table where Alfred was examining Raven.

Groaning a bit she stood and walked over to Alfred.

“How is she?” she whispered.

“Miss Roth has suffered heavy blood loss, but what broken bones she has those appear to already be mending, on their own.” Alfred answered.

“I’ll call Harley and Ivy,” Selina murmured as she helped Alfred move Raven to a wheelchair. Gingerly she set the smaller woman down.

Selina looked at Damian and Tim; both of who were at Jason’s legs. She was surprised seeing Tim there when she had missed him before. Gently she pushed Tim’s too long hair out of his face, looked him over before she glanced over at Damian.

She’d had mixed feelings about her lover’s son this whole year. There was that painful stab of betrayal looking at Damian and seeing Talia in him, knowing her lover had loved another and had a child with them. But Selina was growing fond of the little Robin, he wasn’t like the others, he was so like his father she thought it adorable. Yes, Damian was worming his way into her heart. Gently she roused Damian, who blinked his eyes open, they were heavy with sleep, and the tints of forest green stood out against the icy blue of his eyes.

“Hey kiddo, time for bed,” she stated as she hoisted him to his feet, Alfred was already taking Raven, and her IV up.

“Jason…” Damian started.

“Is going to bed after I get the others up,” she cut off. “Bed, now, it’s dawn.”

Standing she watched the little assassin as he slowly dragged himself up and exited the Cave. Satisfied that the kid was too tired to disobey her she walked over to Bruce. Straddling her sleeping lover’s lap she crashed her mouth to his as she kissed him with everything she had. Her lovers hands firmly gripped her ass as he pulled her closer, responding heatedly to her kiss. She pulled away and smiled at his sleepy confusion.

“come on, up, time for bed,” she yawned.

“Selina,” he started.

“Up, loverboy, I can’t lift your teen and I got two babies to put to bed,” she stated as she stepped off him and waited a beat. She loved the cave, she did, but they all needed sleep. The stress of having had the babies in danger, that was too much for all of them, and she knew it.

“Jason…” he started.

“You get Tim in bed then Jason,” she stated. Tim needed to be pried off of Jason’s arm, and she wasn’t going to be prying that seventeen year old off of anyone after the night she had had. The only reason Dick probably wasn’t here was because of Kori, and Kori being pregnant probably had him being a stupid guy and wanting to be close to Kori.

Selina watched as her lover slowly got to his feet and walked over to his children. Crouching down she wrangled up Terry and Helena, and wondered when the hell Terry had become her kid. All she remembered when she had seen Terry in her hospital room was betrayal, even looking at Bruce and him she had felt his unnerving betrayal. Similar to what she had felt upon seeing Damian for the first time. But she looked at the baby boy who blinked a bleary set of ice colored eyes at her before he yawned and slumped on her shoulder, this was one of her kids now. She loved him, she’d kill for him, she’d die for him, and this emotion was just as fierce with any of the other Robins, Cass, and especially with Helena. They were all her kids.

“Lets hope you don’t have a brother, I don’t think B could handle another baby,” she informed Terry who just nuzzled her neck as she walked to hers’ and Bruce’s room to put the kids in the cribs. She wasn’t ready to let the kids out of her sight just yet.

* * *

 

Kate looked down as they descended into dreary Gotham. She should have been upset, but she wasn’t. She and her partner, Cameron Chase; who was none the wiser that she was sitting with Batwoman, stared at her home.

“Relieved to be home?” Cameron asked her.

“Yes,” she smiled.

“Hey, I heard your cous had a kid come back from the dead,” Cameron smiled.

Kate said nothing as she pursed her lips. She had doubts about whoever was posing as Jason Todd. Not that it would matter. She would just have to be more careful about her identity and missions. Jason Todd was not a kid she was familiar with and if this young man was actually Jason Todd, and not an imposter, she’d have to be careful.

“I’m happy for him,” Kate lied.

“Not every day that you have a kid come back from the dead,” Cameron chuckled.

“No its not,” Kate agreed humorlessly. Of course her twin wouldn’t come back from the dead. When they were landed and Kate was hefting up her gear she saw her cousin Bette waiting for her. Kate smiled at Bette as she waved off Cameron. She’d have to talk with Bruce about her Bat mission, but all had gone smooth.

“Hey, Bette!” Kate smiled as her cousin took a bag from her.

“Hey Kate, your dad was disappointed you missed Hanukkah,” Bette said.

“I work for the DEO, I go where they want when they want, not when I want.” Kate stated.

“I know.”

Besides, Kate mused coldly. This trip had been perfect for the second mission Batman had given her.

* * *

 

Mary-Beth Williams sat on the floor against her bed, with her best friend Madison was spread over the bed, texting her boyfriend Archer probably. Teri was painting Mary’s toes as Antt did Teri’s hair up, while Mary was reading aloud the latest from the Wayne Charity Gala news! There was an image of a man kissing a woman rather passionately, the header under it was enough to have her clicking it.

“Oh! Check this out! **_Prodigal Son Returns! And He’s TAKEN!_** ” Mary giggled.

“Prodigal son?” Madison looked up with interest then.

“ _The long thought dead son of Bruce Wayne has returned, that’s right, the second heir to the richest man on Earth has been rediscovered. The reunion of Mr. Wayne and his second son, Jason Todd, has not been revealed, as of yet, but it’s been confirmed that he is back!_

“ _And on his arm, of the biggest Gala of the year, the mysterious Rachel Roth!_ ” Mary giggled. Though the image was stunning. The guy was hot! Tall, thick, built, mmm, he was gorgeous! Not as pretty as his brothers; Dick was the sexiest man on earth; this Jason Todd was fucking hot! Mary giggled a bit at the image as her friends looked over at the couple.

But the woman beside him, she was serenely, stunning. Otherworldly even. Her face was a proud face, reminding Mary-Beth of a young picture of her análí… The woman was small compared to her date, but the face, it was so striking, demanding to be looked at, even if the girl wasn’t smiling at the camera and looked indifferent to all around her, it was those dark eyes that were laughing.

“ _Nothing is known about Rachel Roth and Jason’s meeting, but it is suspected that the lovers met during Jason’s travels, and have obviously formed a close bond! The world awaits the wedding announcement from the newly returned Gotham Prince, who is about to beat his elder brother, Richard Grayson, in settling down! The world eagerly waits for the announcement; as Bruce Wayne and the family would not comment on the seriousness of the relationship between Jason and Rachel_ ,” Madison finished for her.

The next image was of Jason and Rachel kissing, the kiss was hot, very hot.

“Well, he’s hot,” Antt giggled!

“I think she’s hotter,” Teri countered.

“She kind of looks like you Mary!” Madison teased. “Alright, my turn!” Madison nudged her aside as she slid to the floor.

Mary just frowned a bit as she looked back at the photo of the couple walking into the Gala. Rachel was stunningly familiar. She wasn’t beautiful, no, Rachel did not look beautiful. Her upper lip was too full, her brow too large, her eyes were large, her nose was off-settingly sharper and almost looked improper for her face, and that chin! Rachel wasn’t beautiful, but she was striking and weirdly pretty. And familiar.

“Ooooo! **_Richard Grayson Flying Into A Flaming HOT Relationship With Model Kori Anders!_** ” Teri exclaimed.

It was later when Madison, Teri, and Antt had left that Mary-Beth opened up the article about the Prodigal Son’s Return.

“Hey Má,” Mary spoke as she rounded the corner, her mother huffed over the sink with the dishes.

“Hey Schatz,” her mom smiled at her over her shoulder. “What’s up?”

“I just… Bruce Wayne got his son back!” Mary said with a smile. Her mom wasn’t really into the celebrity stuff, Mary knew that, but it didn’t care, she just wanted to talk to her mom.

“That’s wonderful, who’s Bruce Wayne? And which child did he get back?” her mom chuckled.

“He’s like the richest man on the planet, má,” Mary rolled her eyes with a giggle. “And he got Jason Todd back.”

“Oh, the poor boy killed in that terror attack over in Ethiopia,” her mom deduced.

“How do you know that but not Bruce Wayne!?” Mary demanded.

“Because your dad wanted to take you with his church on a missionary mission there, and I said no after that attack,” her mom answered sitting down across from her. She smiled sadly. “I lost too much already, I wasn’t chancing you or Jack.”

“Oh, well he’s back! And he’s like super super hot now!” she giggled and opened the photo to the stunning man then.

Her mother chuckled as she accepted the tablet. Mary had never seen her mother’s face go from copper to white so fast. Her hands shook and Mary stiffened.

“Má?” Mary said uncertainly. “Má!” she shouted.

“DAD!” Mary shouted.

Her mom was up then and running up the stairs for Opa’s room then. Her dad walked in and Mary dragged him after her as her mother threw open her Opa’s door.

“Papa!” her mom skidded to her knees before Opa as Mary ran into the room. “Papa! Did you ever hear from Angela!?”

“No,” her Opa said painfully.

“Alice, We’ve been over this,” her dad started.

“Look at this!” her mom shouted. her dad looked exasperated as he took the tablet and glanced at the photo.

“Proves nothing Alice, it’s been over twenty years,” her dad sounded sad and Mary wondered if she was intruding on something right then.

“Twenty two years! And… what if… her name is Roth!”

“It’s a common last name,” her Opa sighed.

“No! no! she looks…”

“Alice, Angela is dead,” her father sighed.

“Who was Angela?” Mary asked uncomfortably. Her parents and opa looked over at her then.

“Angela was my eldest daughter, she was stunning,” Opa said happily. “Spirited, kind, just like her mother, your análí, my wildvogel,” her Opa smiled. Mary walked over to her opa as he beckoned her and she waited. “Angela, she was very beautiful, like you, and she disappeared a long, long time ago.”

“I’m going to Gotham,” her mom announced.

“Alice! Wait a minute!” her dad shouted.

“I’m going Jack!” her mom roared furiously.

“And doing what! Beating down the door of Bruce Wayne’s Home!?”

“If I Have To!”

* * *

 

Oliver had Felicity and Digg on a plane within an hour of receiving the text from Bruce Wayne that he was needed in Gotham. His granddaughter or niece had almost been killed. Oliver hadn’t hesitated to ask Raisa to take care of the kids, and Tommy to take care of the companies as he had gone to the airport. They were flying now and Oliver stared out the window tensely as he tried not to panic about what might or might not have happened with Roy, and his child.

His relationship with Roy was never clear, somewhere between surrogate father and big brother, it was not close, Roy didn’t let people get close to him. Except Thea… but… there was a heavy feeling in Oliver’s gut whenever he thought about Thea; which had him reluctantly accepting that the worse had likely happened.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” Felicity took his hand then and he looked down at it.

“I failed Roy,” he stated knowingly.

“Hey, we can’t save everyone, and Roy was never going to be easy,” Digg stated.

“We just… we’ll be there because he needs us, and that’ll be enough,” Felicity decided.

Oliver squeezed her hand then as he stared out the window. He couldn’t get to Gotham fast enough. He just wanted… he wanted to bring Roy home. And… and he wanted closure on Thea, though Oliver dreaded that becoming a possible reality.

* * *

 

Bruce checked on all his boys after everyone had settled. Dick was sleeping firmly wrapped around Kori, and Kori had wrapped around him as well. Bruce awkwardly pulled the blanket over them before silently leaving.

Tim was sleeping in Raven’s room with Damian and Jason. Which actually shocked Bruce because Jason was stretched over the bottom of Raven’s bed being used as Tim’s pillow. Damian was using Tim as his pillow. Titus slept with his head on Raven’s shoulder. No one was moving them.

Cass and Stephanie were in Cass’s room sleeping back to back.

Selina was in his bed, Terry and Helena were sleeping together in their cribs, Terry firmly holding onto his baby sister who had curled into his chest.

“Mmm… lover, come h’re,” Selina yawned as she roused a bit. Bruce limped to the bed and dropped onto it. It wasn’t heaven, no, he gingerly trace Selina’s brow knowing it. But this was pretty close to perfect.

“Oliver will be here later today,” he whispered hoarsely, his voice not wanting to work.

“Mmm… think later, sleep,” Selina breathed. “You have too many damn kids.”

“I only have Dick, Jason, Cass, Tim, Damian, Terry and Helena,” he listed them tiredly.

“Too many damn kids, they tire me out. They aren’t mine, but they’re mine, B, now rest,” Selina sighed as she tucked herself against his side like she always had done since they were twelve.

“Marry me,” he breathed tiredly.

Her green eyes snapped open then.

“What?”

“Marry me,” he repeated softly.


	27. Jolliest Bunch of Assholes This Side of the Nuthouse!

The first thing that registered to her was heat, she was way too fucking hot for comfort which had her thinking she had trapped herself in hell with fire. But then there was something hot and wet panting on her neck, and it smelled like… dog.

Reluctantly she groaned and cracked an eye open to the intruder.

His muzzle was on her throbbing, stiff shoulder which had her eyes narrowing a bit as those brown happy eyes gazed adoringly back at her. There was a low thumping on the bed, which seemed to rouse the man who had claimed her thigh as his pillow. Jason’s eyes were wide as there was a brilliant ring of green around them then they narrowed dangerously on her. He was up and over her, Raven just blinked at him caging her in as he glared at her.

“You’re an asshole,” she stated when he opened his mouth. Which had his mouth shutting and she grunted a bit in discomfort as she folded her arms, her left arm throbbed painfully from the slice she had given it, but she ignored that.

“You…” he started.

“I get it, but you’re an asshole,” she cut off. She did, then he rolled off her, landing on Titus who scrambled up and trampled over Damian and Tim. Tim was spooning Damian which she thought was adorable; but **_Why the Hell They Were In HER Bed_** was beyond her at this moment. Damian and Tim bolted up when Titus clambered all over them, the boys leapt apart glaring at each other with obvious hatred, which had her lips twitching in amusement.

“Raven, You’re Alive!” Tim shouted, and Raven found herself wrapped up in a hug, which had her gasping in pain. “Sorry! But… I thought you were dead!”

“Demon, I’m not dying easy,” she managed as Tim sat back, Raven slowly propped herself up against the pillows. Damian marched right up, and towering over her, he placed his hands very authoratively on his hips as he glared down at her.

“You Are A Colossal Imbecile! You Is A Nitwit For Even Contemplating Doing Something So Inanely Reckless!” Damian started ranting in a language Raven didn’t know and she sighed as she rubbed her pounding temple.

Before she could even really contemplate what was happening Jason had Damian slung over his shoulder like a sack of wheat and Tim tucked under his arm as they were tossed out with Titus cantering after them. Jason slammed the door shut and turned to face her. For a long moment it was like time was suspended as she glared at Jason, and Jason just stared back. Raven wasn’t an idiot, she had a good idea of what had been running through his head when he’d been out last night, and more than likely he was going to have run off, but was here because of the abduction.

“You promised,” she started the warning.

He was right there all of a sudden and she found herself enveloped in a hard, firm, but gentle as Jason could manage hug. Her eyes widened at the action, the pain pulsed over her form.

“I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry, I… I’m a coward Raven, but please, please never do that again,” he murmured in her hair.

“Wha?”

“I’ll never walk away again, but please, for the love of Dear God, Rae, don’t ever… you can’t die,” he said. “I can’t lose another friend,” he said.

“I’m not dying Jason,” Raven promised.

The man said nothing, and she sensed there was a lot more to this that she didn’t understand or know about yet, and she didn’t want to pry.

“Rae… you were… you were broken, bleeding, there was too much blood, you just… I can’t do that again, not with you, not with you Raven.” Jason rested his brow on hers, the moment he had spoken it had felt too intense, like he was speaking to a lover rather than a friend. “Can’t go through it Rae.”

“I promise not to do that again, if you promise to never be an asshole and break another promise to me,” she decided. Promise for promise.

“Deal,” he said softly, and almost reluctantly.

“I’m serious Jason, no more breaking your promises, even if you don’t like them.”

“I was just thinking about running.”

“With you and your idiot brothers thinking is doing!” she snapped as he stretched out on her bed. “And you’re enough of an asshole to run because you were stressed.”

“You’re a real bitch you know.”

“You missed my bitch phase, but you are bringing it right to the surface,” she warned him coldly.

He glowered at her, but she folded her arms as she held his gaze though.

“You don’t ever bleed to death on me ever again, and I’ll do whatever the hell I promise I’ll do, no matter what Rae,” he said seriously.

Raven softened a bit and yawned, she felt heavy and drowsy.

“By the way, you’re not wearing a shirt,” Jason piped up unhelpfully.

“I’m still pissed at you,” she warned sleepily. She could feel the bandages constricting her small breasts, pressing down tightly on her breathing. Her ribs were killing her, and she didn’t want to move.

“Rae,” he started.

“Hm.” She hummed as her heavy eyes shut.

“I’m really sorry,” he murmured.

“Feed me waffles and I might forgive you,” she decided. Jason wasn’t getting off her hook so easily. No, she would kick his ass four ways to Sunday when she wasn’t in so much pain. The only problem with summoning her demon, the pain, the drain, the agony, and the slam of power.

“I’ll keep that in mind for when you’re awake again,” he said carefully.

“You better be here Jason, else I will track your hide down and you’ll wish you were dead when I’m through with you,” she warned solemnly.

“I got it, I’m not running.”

“You’re a fucking asshole.”

* * *

 

Jason saw her fall asleep and for a long moment he just lay there by her watching her chest rise and fall. He watched the way her lashes would twitch, and the corner of her mouth seemed to quirk (either in a frown or smile, it seemed to depend on what was on her mind). Jason watched her for a long time, he didn’t touch her, she was an illusion, glass, a mirage, she might not be real if he touched her. And something in him dreaded that this, this moment, her breathing, it might be a twisted dream on his mind’s part while he was unconscious. After all, he’d already gone through that before.

Slowly he reached up and touched her shoulder, she didn’t disappear like he thought she would, which had him slowly tracing her arm to the bandage. It was the length of her forearm, the wrapping was neat, practiced, sterile, medical, Alfred like. Underneath there was a burn, or stiches, he didn’t know which. Gingerly he moved the blanket down a bit, it revealed the blooming bruises, they were dark, marring her ivory coloring. His fingers touched the bottom of the bandage, which wrapped around her lower ribs, and he traced the edge of it to where the blood was on her right. There were new runes littering her skin unceremoniously, they looked like henna, or something just as complex with how they seemed to move over her skin.

The only thing marring her skin that belonged was the tattoo of the raven. He noticed the bandage on her hip, just below the tat though which had his fingers sliding over the edge of it. Her body had a few other bandages over it, but he paused as he looked back to her face. There was a heavy bruise there, and her red ruby pulsed angrily on her brow. He didn’t touch it, no, but he stared at her breathing form again.

“You’re alive,” he whispered in relief.

Raven hadn’t died. He had failed her, but this time, she hadn’t died. The knowledge had him trembling as he moved her loose hair off her face to study her carefully. She was a girl who he had known since he had stolen the suit, she was his only friend, after years of being alone, she was the first real friend he had ever had. God it was terrifying to think he had almost lost her and failed; again.

She could hate him for all of eternity, but she was alive, and he was never again going to let her down like this again. Raven hadn’t let him down yet, he was going to work just as hard at this to never let her down again.

“I’ll be back,” he assured her as he stood and walked out of the room. His arms and body pulsed in pain but pain was an old familiar friend to him as he picked up a hoodie. Slowly pulling it on he stuffed his hands in the pockets as he walked down the hall.

“Ah, Master Jason,” a familiar voice had him stopping as he slowly turned to look at Alfred. “I was about to make a cup of black tea, would you care to join me?”

The words were inviting, but the tone was a command if Jason had ever heard it. Sighing he just nodded as he walked after Alfred. He said nothing, because if Raven could make him feel two feet tall for whatever he had just thought about acting on, then Alfred would make him feel about two inches tall for it. He thought that was pretty fucking hard given the face he was over six feet tall, and he had grown up on the streets, on the run, with the most ruthless of assassins and criminals, or he’d been in a unique, different hell for which he could not think of a name for.

They were settled in the kitchen, neither said a word as Alfred put out the cookies and the tea was made. Jason didn’t really know what to say, he wasn’t even really sure how to act here.

“Relax my dear boy, there is nothing wrong here,” Alfred said.

“I ran,” Jason muttered tiredly as he looked up to his grandfather like figure; fuck it, Alfred was his grandfather, at least in his mind. He didn’t care if Alfred didn’t like him as family, or even like him at all, Alfred was the man he had always thought of to be his grandfather, and Bruce was his dad. At least the dad that counted in the private depths of Jason’s private thoughts.

“That does not matter, you are home now.”

“But it’s not home,” Jason muttered as he looked up at Alfred, and for the first time he couldn’t bring his natural defenses against this family up. Jason was tired. He was so tired, tired of everything, of the pain of solitude, of the loneliness, of his life.

“Nonsense,” Alfred dismissed.

“It’s not!” Jason argued. “Hasn’t been if it ever was.”

“You are a member of this family and this is our home,” Alfred countered.

“I ran away,” Jason muttered. “I killed people, Alfred. I killed a lot of people.”

“It is not an easy thing to do,” Alfred said solemnly.

“I didn’t do it like you did,” Jason murmured. “B doesn’t want me, never did, Dick never wanted me. Tim and Damian think they want me, but they’re better off without. And I let my only friend down,” he sighed as he rubbed his eyes over.

“Master Jason,” Alfred’s tone was sharp which had Jason looking over through his lashes at Alfred. “You are wanted, you are loved, and this is your family. Miss Roth will forgive you, she has forgiven your brothers for far worse. You have lost nothing here, we are here for you.”

“But you weren’t,” he muttered tiredly. No one had been there when he had clawed his way to life again. No one but the next set of hells for him to live through.

* * *

 

“Yello?” she yawned as she picked up phone. Sliding over her lusciously, soft lover, she giggled feeling Ivy trace her ass.

“Hey Harley, you need to get up to Wayne Manor,” a harsh Gotham filled voice filled her ear. It was so street that it belonged to only one person.

“Cat?” she yawned tired.

“Yeah Cat, you gotta get Ivy and get your asses over here,” Selina repeated.

“What happened?” Harley sat up, the sheet fell to her lover and Ivy propped herself up then.

“It’s the little bird, the power outage last night, that was her. She’s in a bad way, you need to get over here,” Selina said.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll be right over,” Harley said sobering up as she got off the bed. Ivy sat up after her, and she grabbed clean clothes. Hopping on a foot she pulled on her pants then her shoes as she grabbed a coat.

“What happened Harl?” she asked as she pulled on her clothes.

“Our little bird appears to have gotten herself into some trouble, we gotta go,” Harley stated. Her fiancé was pulling up her hair as hey sauntered out of the room. Grabbing the keys she had her lover in her car before she gunned it out of their hideout.

Harley wasn’t kidding when she had said she was adopting Raven. Harley was very fond of the girl. Raven actually reminded Harley of a lost little bird; for real, the way Raven watched everyone like they would lash out, or like they were a threat. It had broken Harley’s heart a bit, and the girl was so young to be left out to the cold, cruel world. Ivy had been taken with Raven too, for similar reasons, and Harley decided that Raven could use a mom. Or two.

Driving through Gotham like a mad woman she skidded to a halt at Wayne Manor’s gates.

They got to the house somehow and the door was opened before Harley had pulled the mallet back to break the door.

“Hey,” Selina smiled.

“Cat!” Ivy smiled as she glided in.

“Kay, so she’s lost a lot of blood, she slit her ulna artery, she’s got a stab in her chest and a bunch of other smaller wounds, but she’s going to be okay. I called Vic, the JL agreed to pass on the message though when he’s in service again,” Selina whispered as she shut the door.

“Why’d she slit her wrist!?” Harley demanded; that was a desperate scream for help if she ever heard of one. She was not letting this little bird tumble down the same dark rabbit hole she and Ivy had fallen down.

“She summoned her demon, that’s why the power went out,” Selina said. “Anyway, family wing, seventh door on the left.”

“Thanks, come on Harl, you wanted to adopt her now we get to yell at her,” Ivy stated grabbing her wrist.

* * *

 

Ivy tossed open the door to the room Cat had directed her too as she waltzed in. The occupant on the bed jolted to being awake and Ivy took a good look at the kid she had just adopted. Raven was a unusually pale girl to begin with, ivory colored skin but her features were schooled in a look of apathy, etched in pride and deep sorrows.

“ ** _What. The. Hell. Were. You. Thinking!?_** ” Ivy demanded.

“I…” Raven started.

“ **No, you don’t get to talk young lady!** ” Ivy stated as she stalked right up to the bed. Raven’s mouth snapped shut then. “ **The Ulna Artery! Raven! Really!? _Are you trying to kill yourself!?_** ”

“I…”

“Sweetie, if ya need help we can get ya help, not Arkham but I know the JL must have somethin’ in place,” Harley announced crawling onto the bed.

“Things can’t be so bad you’re willing to die!” Ivy snapped.

“I wasn’t…” Raven started.

“Oh, you poor baby, and Ivy shush, we need ta be supportive!” Harley snapped hugging Raven to her bosom. Ivy frowned as she folded her arms, cocked her hip, pursed her lips and glared at her blonde love. Sometimes Harley was so damn dumb that Ivy wondered how her fiancée could even be a psychiatrist.

“I don’t need help!” Raven shouted.

“Everyone needs help honey, Ivy and Cat saved me when I didn’t need help; Bats saved me too,” Harley said stroking Raven’s dark hair. Ivy wanted to touch the girl too, but she was so goddamn mad at the girl.

“Look, I don’t need **_that_** sort of help,” Raven said. “And I can explain.”

“Then start talkin’ kid, else I’m yankin’ the cord on this hero gig,” Ivy warned.

Raven rolled her eyes. “I was performing magic.”

“And what sort of magic demands you slit your ulna artery!?” Ivy barked.

“The ‘virgin sacrifice for a demon’ kind.”

“Huh?” she and Ivy sputtered.

“You know, the pure virgin, dressed in white, killed to bring forth the demon kind of ritual,” Raven sighed. “I was in white, I’m a damn virgin; something I honestly never thought would be useful until last night, and I needed a demon. What better demon to summon than my own, one I can control, one I can kill if it gets to being too much?”

“Ya tellin’ me, your nineteen and never had sex?” Harley sputtered. Ivy wacked Harley up the back of the head at that. She’d pry into her new daughter about her virginity later, that wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Never had sex, don’t think it’s in my cards, and for the first time ever, being a virgin was useful,” Raven shrugged.

“So you did the sacrifice a virgin, yourself, to summon a demon, also yourself,” Ivy sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“See, wasn’t trying to kill myself!” Raven announced.

“ ** _You. Idiot!_** ” Ivy roared, and she started pacing and swearing as Harley just sighed and hugged Raven.

* * *

 

Raven resigned herself to the fact she wasn’t escaping her ‘new moms’ anytime soon. No, she didn’t think she was, and she wasn’t sure she had the energy to. Leaning heavily on Harley she tried to not be offended at being called an idiot for being willing to do something really dangerous to save her best friend.

“Do you even realize the dangers of that! let alone that you almost bled yourself out to death!?” Ivy demanded as she whirled on her.

“I…”

“I cannot believe you are that self-sacraficingly stupid! I’d expect something like this from Wonder Woman or something! You’re not a JL member! You’re a bloody Titan!” Ivy stated as she continued her pacing and ranting. “This is why I don’t like these meat sacks! They try to die when you love them and I cannot believe that you would do something like this! I am chaining you up back home and then your brother! I can’t take this!

“You almost died!” Ivy gasped as she clutched her heart and fell on the bed.

“I’m pretty sure the magic community would be most relieved at my death,” Raven stated blandly.

“Oh sweetie, we wouldn’t,” Harley stated. “And you’re ours, so if ya think ya get to die young I got news for ya, that ain’t happenin’!”

“You will be remaining here until we’re sure you won’t do something so damn stupid again!” Ivy decided sitting up.

“Uh…” Raven blinked.

“There’s no arguing this kid!” Ivy growled as she glared at her.

Raven just nodded her head as she shrunk away from the redhead. Her mom got that very glare in her eye when Raven would do something particularly bad as a child, and Raven was startled at how powerful Ivy’s was.

“You will be spending New Years with us too,” Ivy warned.

“Yes mom,” Raven squeaked.

“Yay! We’ll get your room all set up and I get to cook a bunch of food!” Harley announced.

“And you will not be cutting yourself, sacrificing yourself, or dying on me, and you will remain with us until we are sure you aren’t gonna just turn around and leap in front of a damn bus to save a kid!” Ivy stated. “Fucking heroes! I can’t take this, why couldn’t you be a demon!?”

“I am a demon,” Raven pointed out blandly.

“A real demon!” Ivy snapped. “Why couldn’t I have a normal daughter?”

“You’re a human hating human, with powers over the plants,” Raven blandly pointed out.

“Just cause I hate these meat sacks doesn’t mean I don’t like a few.”

“Like who?” Raven sputtered.

“I love Harley, I like Cat, I am fond of you, and your brother is growin’ on me,” Ivy said thoughtfully.

“And we adore our goddaughter Helena!”

“Her too. But I do not tolerate my meat sacks dying!”

“Okay, okay, no dying,” Raven yawned as she held her good hand up in surrender.

“Told ya adopting her was good,” Harley hummed. Raven just sighed and surrendered, there was no fighting the wills of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, plus she didn’t want Harley to stop running her fingers through her hair. It had been ages since anyone had touched Raven’s heavy mass of hair, it felt nice. She liked it.

“So long as she stops playing sacrificial hero, yes, she’s a good meat sack,” Ivy decided.

“Mmm, I will try not to do more sacrifices,” Raven slurred. Truthfully she didn’t like breaking her demon seals on her own will. It hurt so fucking much; it hurt her body. It was like breaking and cracking every bone, realigning them, fusing them into new spots they didn’t belong. It always felt like hell. Hell, she didn’t even like it when someone successfully broke her and brought her demon forth like Lobo had. It Fucking Hurt!

“Good.” Ivy was suddenly beside her and there were other fingers through her hair. It felt unnervingly good. Which had her sighing a bit.

“We’re going to watch TV, summon popcorn, and if Bruce has a problem with it, I’m mind controlling him again,” Ivy decided.

“Oooo! I like!” Harley announced.

“Don’t kill him please, I like the Bats,” Raven slurred sleepily.

“We’re going to have a chat about Bats and safety later,” Harley decided.

“Why?” Raven yawned as she lifted her chin to be on Harley’s shoulder.

“Oh, baby,” Harley sighed as if this need for safety with Bats was obvious which had Raven furrowing her brow a bit. “One-word, little bird: Jason.”

“Oh, he’s a bastard,” Raven shrugged as she snuggled into Harley’s side. It was the first time in years Raven felt that warmth, safety and contentment around another person who wasn’t Victor. It was familiar, safe, warm, wanted. This wasn’t like sharing a bed with Jason; which was for comfort and soothing demons more than anything, this was like being protected.

The last time Raven had felt this kind of safety was with her mother. When Arella would draw her in and sooth her nightmares and demons.

“Are ya inta girls?”

“No, I like boys, I’m straight, they just don’t like me,” Raven sighed.

“Sweetheart we’re gonna have a nice long chat about boys when ya aren’t fallin’ asleep,” Harley decided.

Raven hummed in agreement as she heard the TV playing some movie, she roused enough to see it was Christmas Vacation, Clark Griswold’s ranting was epic as he corralled his family in the house.

“ _Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse._ ”

The line had Raven giggling a bit for it felt so damn fitting for this situation.

* * *

 

Jason had finished tea with Alfred, and it felt… like a right of passage. Like it was something he should have grown into. Alfred had been patient with him, listened, not sitting there judging but Jason was still… unsteady?, however he felt a bit better having talked to Alfred. Alfred was up to take Julia shopping though which had Jason alone now.

Hanging out with Raven was out as she was with Harley and Ivy, and Jason didn’t need that added stress. Not right now.

Dick was with Kori, Damian, and Tim. He had heard Cass leave with Stephanie. Selina had probably joined Harley and Ivy with Raven. And the house was eerily quiet.

He hated the quiet, it was too peaceful. And in Wayne Manor, even when it was just him, Bruce and Alfred here, there’d always been some noise going. Now though, now it wasn’t his home, he was an intruder standing in a stranger’s home;. It was eerily quiet. Soundlessly Jason sought out the library, he could find some peace, alone, he didn’t need… he didn’t need anyone.

He was here to keep his promise to Raven because he wasn’t letting her down again.

“Jason,” a voice had him jolting and turning a bit to see Bruce, Helena was in his arms, Terry toddled after Bruce though.

“Jay!”

“Duck,” Jason answered the baby’s shout. Terry gurgled/giggled before toddling over to Jason on fast little feet. Catching Terry when the kid tripped Jason slowly straightened as he propped the kid on his hip.

“Jay!” Terry exclaimed with a drooling grin. Kid definitely had Bruce’s ice blue eyes; maybe a shade lighter, but they were there, in shape, and thick lashes. There was a brief stab of envy in Jason’s heart because once upon a time he had desperately wished he could be Bruce’s blood son. that was of course before he died.

“You’re very good with him,” Bruce stated. “I was going to read The Hobbit to them.”

“I…”

“You should join us,” Bruce said.

Jason blinked a bit and he looked over at Terry who was gnawing seriously on his fist. “Why?”

“Because, Jason, you’re my son,” Bruce said as if that were a valid reason.

“I’m not!” Jason started to protest only to have a firm, gentle hand on his shoulder.

“You. Are. My. Son.” Bruce stated each word with purpose, as if reinforcing the idea to himself as well.

“I’ve killed,” Jason pointed out softly. “And I’ll kill again.”

“You’re My Son, Jason. I might not agree with your actions, I might disagree on your views, I might protest at your skills, and I might be upset with you. But I love you, and you are my child. Mine. And Nothing Will Ever Change That. You’re Mine. My kid,” Bruce fiercely countered in a low gruff tone. It was perhaps the most emotional Jason had ever heard Bruce.

Even before his death Bruce wasn’t overly emotional.

The dangerous thing though, the thing which would destroy him later no doubt, he so desperately wanted it.

He wanted his Dad.

* * *

 

Bruce stared at Jason for a long time, seeing the warring conflict in Jason’s eyes. They were still cobalt blue, but there was a dangerous ring of emerald green wrapped around the outer ring of his eyes. The green seemed to flare a bit but it receded too. The Pit, Bruce noted sadly.

But he was rather happy to see that Jason was wonderful with his younger siblings. Not surprising he supposed, Jason was always a rather maternal child, he cared for people around him deeply and devotedly. He had cared for Catherine Todd up to her death, and Jason had shown the depths of this care as a child and Robin with how he watched over Bruce. Yes, Bruce remembered that. Remembered how Jason would step up when Alfred was out, or when Bruce needed the extra help.

The gentle way Jason handled Terry or Helena, it showed a core part of his personality which clearly hadn’t faded with his death.

“I like The Hobbit,” Jason muttered uncertainly.

Bruce took Jason’s acceptance of the book; a book he had purposely selected knowing Jason would like it, he took this as Jason’s olive branch. Besides, it was not often Bruce got to have Helena all to himself, or Terry for that matter. And this would be the first time, since Jason death, he would get to have his son all to himself without the interference of outsiders. He wanted it. He wanted it so badly he could taste it.

“Jay!” Terry squealed.

“Duck.”

“You’re lucky Helena looks like Selina,” Jason stated suddenly as Bruce picked up The Hobbit to read, Jason sat in his favored reading nook Bruce noticed. The favorite spot before his death. Terry sat on Jason’s stomach playing with Jason’s fingers with devote interest. “Else she might be as ugly as you.”

“Damian turned out fine,” Bruce pointed out.

“Yeah but Talia is fucking gorgeous,” Jason countered.

“I’ve asked Selina to marry me,” Bruce stated settling.

Jason looked over at him with interest.  “No shit?”

“Yes.”

“Well she’s the only one who can handle your dumbass,” Jason shrugged as he pulled his hand away from Terry who giggled and clapped as he propped himself up on Jason.

“She said yes,” Bruce said softly.

“Of course she did,” Jason rolled his eyes. “She’s loved you since before Dickhead was even Robin. And she tolerates all your shit.”

“Is that so?” Bruce mused.

“It’s a fucking fact,” Jason snapped haughtily. Bruce chuckled at his second son’s statement and opened The Hobbit.

Perhaps, one day, he’d get to see Jason get married and have his own children. Dick was already on that path with Kori, whom Bruce was begrudgingly accepting as a permanent fixture of his family now. Bruce was also beginning to accept that Raven was very likely to become a member of his family.

Still, Bruce had hopes that one day he could see Jason happy and with his own family.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…” Bruce started after fixing on his glasses.


	28. Topsy-Turvy

Dick roused a bit against his warm lover and he stared at her for a long time. His hand was resting where their child was, and she was sleeping soundly against his shoulder. A moment passed before he pulled her closer and kissed her brow.

Kori.

The love of his life, the woman he couldn’t live without, couldn’t survive without, she had been in danger. As had their child. Dick didn’t think he could have survived if Kori had died, it would have killed him in a way he didn’t even know how to describe. Was it that sort of unimaginable pain that B had felt at Jason’s loss? Dick cringed remembering the aftermath of Jason’s death and how he had been towards B. Been towards everyone.

Bruce must have been dying after losing Jason, and Dick had just callously hurt him more, and aimed to hurt his foster father. No, not his foster father. Though he had a Dad, and John Grayson was an amazing father in Dick’s memories, Bruce was also his Dad. Just different.

“Mmm, Dick,” Kori hummed as she shifted, and her eyes slowly opened. The neon green glowed intensely into his eyes, and he just stared at her for a long while.

“I’m going to marry you,” he blurted out. Kori blinked a few times at him.

“Richard,” she started slowly.

“Not right now, now isn’t the right time for us. But I’m going to marry you. I love you Kori. And last night… I couldn’t breath, I could barely think when you and… and our baby, were in danger. My brother and my sister were in danger too, and my best friend’s kid, and the closest thing I’ve ever had to a mom after losing my own mom, they were all in danger. But it was because you… you and my baby were in danger,” he shuddered. “I love you. I love you, I love our baby, I can’t lose either of you. Ever. I don’t know how B survived losing Jay, but the mere thought of losing you and our baby, that killed me Kori. I love you, and one day, when the time is right, I will marry you.”

“And when the time is right I would be pleased to marry you,” Kori smiled as she rolled over him. “But until then, no marriage, let it just be you and me,” she whispered.

“I love you,” he promised.

“Good,” she purred as she leaned over. Dick caught her lips as his hands gripped her hips. The flames erupted around them, harmlessly licking at his skin and sheets as she seemed to heat up. Her fingers slid down his chest to his boxers where his straining member was.

“Kori!?” he managed.

“It will not harm the baby,” she gasped as her lips left his. “I need you, I need you now,” she panted as she floated over him.

Dick helped her pull of his boxers before she descended again, her mouth on his, and his hands tangled in the flames not getting burned.

* * *

 

Damian padded soundlessly into the library. Drake was with Cain and Brown, and he hadn’t felt the need to seek out Grayson’s company. So despite what everyone had probably thought, he had been in his room, sketching, with Titus and Jason’s Christmas gift sleeping.

He had briefly contemplated seeking Raven’s company, but he remembered that Isley and Quinzel had monopolized Raven’s company with Kyle.

Which lead Damian to seeking out Jason’s company, and Jason was apparently with father in the library, with father’s two other spawns. McGinnis, and Helena. Uncertainly he walked into the library, he heard his father reading in a soft voice. Slowly Damian followed his father’s voice, only pausing when he saw Jason sitting sprawled out on a reading nook with McGinnis on his chest again. Father was sitting in his favored chair with Helena in his grasp.

“Damian,” his father’s head looked up, the glasses on his nose were offsetting in Damian's mind. He had never thought about if his father would ever need something so mundane. In the near year he had been here his father had always been so unapproachable. Right now…

With Jason dressed in bandages, sweats, and a t-shirt, his father clearly dressed in rumpled sleep cloths, this was the first time that his father did not look so indomitable. Especially with those glasses on his nose.

“What’s up shorty?” Jason asked, his attention on McGinnis who was now using Jason’s hands as supports to stand and do a weird, unnerving wiggle.

“I do not wish to intrude,” he started uncertainly. He had learned a lot this past year.

His father was not just his and his alone; as much as he wished it to be so. His father liked spending time with his other sons; Dick, Jason, Cain, and Drake. His father was not solely his, and now had two other worthy biological heirs to replace him. Damian had never felt more uncertain than now where he stood with his father; especially with Jason sitting there. One wrong move and Jason would cuff him.

The only time Damian had felt this uncertain was back in the hospital room. Since returning home though, Damian could ignore the babies. Unless McGinnis was on the hunt for Jason. Then he would follow him.

“You’re not intruding Damian, we were just reading The Hobbit,” his father said. “You can join us.”

“JAY!” McGinnis squealed.

“Duck,” Jason responded, and Damian slowly walked over to sit with Jason and McGinnis.

“Why do you insist upon calling McGinnis ‘Duck’?” Damian asked as he sat.

“Because he’s like a little duckling.”

“Duck?” his father sighed in exasperation.

“You have a cat, a bat, a bunch of birds, and a demon spawn, there is nothing wrong with Duck!” Jason stated haughtily.

Damian bit his inside cheek to keep from smiling as he pulled out his sketch book and started a new sketch.

This would be father’s gift, he decided as he did not have a gift for his father yet.

* * *

 

Oliver took Felicity’s hand as they walked down the stairs of the private jet to the tarmac. Digg had gone to get the car already, and Gotham was cold, and the snow was dreary. He clutched her hand tightly as they descended.

“Did he say anything?” Felicity asked.

“No,” Oliver answred.

“Just that Roy’s in trouble?” Felicity asked.

“Exactly.”

“Roy should come home, I have never liked him being out and gone,” Felicity said.

“Roy was never like Connor or William,” he pointed out patiently. Getting the others of his family hadn’t been traditional. He had taken Roy in, after he had picked his pocket, and all the rough patches of trying to get Roy’s anger and drinking under control, it had been a fight.

It wasn’t like Connor who had shown up, very literally, a year after he had come home, on his doorstep with his birth certificate in hand, and a hope to have a home. It was not like when William had come to him by accident due to a shooting at his office, orphaning the boy and later; DNA revealing that they were father and son. It had taken Oliver some getting used to, to adapt to those sons of his. Roy though, he had willingly brought Roy in and he had failed Roy a thousand times over and over. Emiko had come to him with every intention of being his sidekick; and after everything with Roy he wasn’t ready. Roy at that time had been with the Titans. Artemis had shown up shortly after that, she was after her father and her sister, and Oliver had no idea what to do with Artemis. Their vigilant family had grown. Tommy with Mia, and his current foster kid Cissy too. Laurel’s death had been a shattering blow to Tommy, but it had not stopped the Arrows family from expanding. The only one who had remained on the outskirts of their family was Roy, and Oliver was pretty sure that if Roy didn’t happen to have a real, and genuine love with Felicity then Roy would have vanished or just dropped into the Titans and left them for good.

“Roy is family,” Felicity stated again.

“I have never thought or felt differently about Roy. But he was always different.” Oliver admitted this always to himself. It was what had always strained his unknown relationship with Roy Harper. It was like he was somewhere between father, brother and mentor with Roy and he had never had a clear standing with Roy.

“Roy should come home with us.” Felicity sounded so unhappy with this that he wanted to assure her that they would have Roy home with them again, but he couldn’t promise that. Roy was a grown man, free to make his own choices; good or bad.

“Let’s first get to Wayne Manor and see how Roy is before we try to bring him home.”

“I just… I want him home!” Felicity sighed.

“We’ll get him home,” Oliver assured her. The car pulled up and he got the door for his wife. Felicity was in the car when he nodded to Digg as he slid in.

The Titans were good for Roy, more good for Roy than he had been. Which was a sad truth. Not a truth he liked either. There was a silence as they drove through Gotham. Gotham and all it’s dreary Victorian glory. Oliver slid his hand into Felicity’s as he traced her wedding ring.

“Artemis is asking about Roy,” Felicity said. Oliver said nothing.

Artemis and Roy’s relationship was the most strained and dangerous of the Arrow family. For whatever reason Artemis and Roy were like vinegar and oil. They weren’t friends or very good at getting along.

“We’ll find out,” Oliver muttered. He doubted that Bruce Wayne would have abused Roy in anyway. Bruce had so many of his own sons, he just would not let Roy be harmed if he was in his care.

“God, I want this pit in my stomach to settle! I can’t take not knowing how he is, or Thea. Have you heard from Thea, I am worried about her. I mean I know she does this black out thing occasionally, but this is feeling like it’s a bit too much. I don’t want to crowd her. But I want her safe. I want her home. Is this too much to ask for?” Felicity sighed.

“Roy will be safe, and we will find out about Thea, I’m sure of it,” Oliver murmured.

“We’re here,” Digg announced. There was a shove on the door as Felicity all but dove out of the car and jogged up the Manor’s steps. Oliver was a step behind her as he walked up the stairs. Felicity rang the doorbell. Oliver waited with a bated breath as he stared at the thick, imposing doors.

His hand settled on the small of Felicity’s back as they waited.

“Hello?” a rumbled, sleep deprived teen opened the door, his long black hair falling in his blue eyes and his wiry form looking like a limp noodle.

“We’re here about Roy,” Felicity burst out.

“Slow down, Felicity,” Oliver chided softly. His wife paused and stared at him, and Oliver was looking at a very sleep deprived teen.

“I’m Oliver Queen, this is Felicity, and that Digg, we’re here about the call from Bruce about Roy,” Oliver said patiently.

“Oh! Yeah, B’s in the library,” the teen yawned as he let them in. “I was after coffee,” the gangly kid grumbled.

“Coffee stunts your growth…” his wife started. Oliver chuckled at the death glare the kid gave her. Digg was amused too as he coughed to cover a chuckle. They made it to a library when the kid stopped.

“B! You got guests,” the kid yelled. There was a growl, the teen darted off, and then there was a sigh. Oliver walked into the library and saw Bruce Wayne, his three youngests, and the young man who had been plastered all over the papers kissing that girl.

* * *

 

Raven roused when her phone rang. Reaching over she answered without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?” she yawned tiredly.

“ ** _WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!? YOU ARE CRAZY AND THE MOMENT I’M DONE DEALING WITH FUCKING AMAZONS YOU AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE A LONG SERIOUS CHAT ABOUT LIFE AND TH VALUE OF YOUR LIFE AND IF YOU EVER PULL THIS SHIT ON ME AGAIN I WILL BLAST YOU RAVEN! I DON’T CARE IF YOU ARE MY FAVORITE AND ONLY SISTER I WILL TAN YOUR SORRY ASS UNTIL YOU CAN’T SIT FOR YEAR!_** ” Victor roared. She held her phone at arms length; Ivy and Harley both looked vastly, and viciously pleased with Victor’s tyrade.

“Can I talk now?” Raven asked.

“ ** _NO! What!?_** ” he demanded.

“Ivy and Harley already chewed me out. and I would like to point out I wasn’t committing suicide, I was summoning a fucking demon which requires a goddamn sacrifice, and I would have been fine. Now if everyone is done yelling me about it I’d also like to point out that I did not just safe Kori, but Pregnant Kori, who is carrying Dick’s kid, Selina, who is a step below Bruce’s wife, Terry McGinnis, who is Bruce’s son, Helena Kyle-Wayne, who is Selina’s and Bruce’s daughter, and Lian Harper, who is Roy’s daughter. I would also like to point out that I am fine, and will continue to be so! To think differently is to think less of me and my abilities, and I’m not so damn weak that I can’t save myself.”

“Raven, you are my baby sister.” Victor stated this as fact, and Raven sighed.

“I know I am, and you’re my pain in the ass big brother, but I am able to save myself,” Raven repeated.

“Not the point.”

“Is this because I’ma girl.”

“No, it’s because you’re my sister, Raven. **_MY_** sister. You are my family! They’re all my friends, **_YOU_** are **_MY_** Family.”

Raven sighed in defeat at that. “Fine, I will never do it again unless cornered. Again.”

“Fine. I’m still coming home to chew your ass out as soon as this thing with the Amazons cools down.”

“Fine.”

“And Jason’s, I’m sure he’s to blame too.”

“He has nothing to do with my decision making skills!” she objected.

“Before his crazy white ass came into your life I didn’t have to worry about you doing crazy stupid shit! Now he’s in your life and you don’t seem inclined to let him go, you making stupid crazy decisions.”

“No, I’d have made the same choice in the same situation, Jason or not; and Jason wasn’t even there!”

“Rae…”

“I’m not twelve anymore Victor, I make friends, friends of the opposite sex, whom have nothing to do with how I make decisions. Jason is a very good friend, yes, but he did not influence the decision I made or how I made it.”

“I worry about you,” Victor sighed, he sounded defeated. “You’re my baby sis.”

“I love you too Vic,” she smiled slightly.

“When the hell did you grow up?”

“When I was nine.”

“I still need to chew Jason’s ass out.”

“Why?”

“Call it a big brother’s right to yell at any and all stupid ass boyfriends his sister might get, dating or not.”

“Fine. Just leave him in one piece, I already chewed him out.”

“Deal. I gotta go. But I’m gonna come yell at you later,” victor said.

“Love you,” Raven chimed absently.

“Love you too little sis, and just do whatever the hell our scary new moms order.” With that he hung up and she sighed as she slumped against Ivy then.

Ivy’s fingers slid through her hair again and Raven winced as she jarred her right side a bit with her sigh. But this still felt good, safe, warm, loved. Things that felt alien to her and she felt she had missed out on. Granted she had never thought she was missing out, she had been a bringer of genocide, the apocalypse, she had killed demons, and resided in Hell, she had destroyed her life, and died a thousand times with what she had taken from people to make everything okay again.

And with Jason, and Vic, she felt wanted, needed, cared for, and loved in a way.

With the Titans she was needed, she was cared for, but she rarely felt wanted.

Right here though, with Harley and Ivy, she felt loved, and wanted, and protected, and it had been forever since she could remember feeling that. Raven always remembered fighting, protecting, pain, sacrifice, she could scarcely remember a moment when she was the one to be protected.

“Ya doing alright, little bird?” Harley asked.

“I’m tired,” Raven admitted. It was the soul deep, bone breaking, emotionally drained and then some tired she spoke of.

“We got you,” Ivy promised. Raven felt lips brush her brow as her eyes shut. This wasn’t all bad.

“Mmm,” she hummed.

“Ya know kid, if you need a break, ya’re welcome to stay with us,” Harley spoke.

“I might,” Raven admitted tiredly. She just might stay, stay and rest for a bit. She had never felt so damn old as she did right now.

“Good,” Ivy decided.

Raven just wanted to take a moment to savor this feeling of protection. She hadn’t known she had missed this feeling until now.

“I got snacks,” Selina announced sauntering in then.

“Good, we’re starved.” Harley announced.

“Speak for yourself! I’m full,” Ivy snapped.

“Miss Light Eater has decided to try a diet,” Harley growled.

“You’re just envious because I always look fabulous,” Ivy countered.

Raven smiled against Ivy and pressed herself closer to the older woman. Safe, safe and loved, that’s all Rave felt at this moment, and she craved to keep this familiarity. She had missed this and never known it was missing.

* * *

 

Jason had left when Oliver, Felicity and Digg had entered the library, he didn’t want to hang around which was what had him walking out of that meeting. Which had had him wandering down to the kitchen in search of food.

He would go bug Raven, but Ivy and Harley were there and he didn’t think that with the amount of blood she had lost that she would want his company. Or that she would even be awake enough to notice that he was there. Well, Raven was Raven, and she seemed to be all knowing, which was fine, but he doubted she’d really notice if he was there or not.

Pulling out supplies to make a sandwich Jason’s eyes flicked up when Dick sauntered in with that stupid grin, and his hair standing up in odd directions.

“Hey Little Wing!” Dick chirped.

“Don’t call me that,” Jason snapped seriously. He loathed that name, he hated that name with a fiery passion that Dickhead would never understand.

“Why not?”

“Because I said not to,” Jason snapped irritably.

“Come on Jay, we’re friends,” Dick said tentatively.

“So you claim,” Jason spat out irritably. He didn’t get this, he had agreed to try to be friends with Dick only weeks earlier but now he wanted to hit the guy. Alright, so there was a possibility that he wanted to punch in his stupid perfect face because of that little green voice in his head reminding him right now that he was a fuck up.

“Jaybird, you don’t know me,” Dick pointed out. “You’re my baby brother, please. Please, Jason, just try to make the effort. You don’t know me, so try trusting me a little here so we can get to know each other.”

That had Jason slamming his knife down as he turned a glare onto Dick. Oh, it wasn’t this Dick who he hated, and he didn’t even HATE hate Dick. But there was a fury from his past experiences with Dick which now boiled to the surface rather easily because of the Pit now. Everything was too raw for him right now, and the Pit was still too close to the surface, but the memories. God the memories that boiled up right now had him wanting to scream at the elder that Dick didn’t and hadn’t ever known him either.

“Yeah, Dickhead, I know you. I Know Every Fucking Version Of You! And Always Have this Fierce Love For Family, Everyone In The Family! Everyone But ME!” Jason growled. “And You Have No Fucking Clue the HELLS YOU Put Me Through!”

“Jason?” Dick blinked dumbly.

“Every fucking version of you! And For What!? Because YOU Didn’t Try To Know Me!” Jason snarled.

“Jaybird, I would never…”

“Never what!?” Jason shouted. “You Never Cared!? Because I remember that, I remember that best about this you. You Didn’t Care Dick.”

“What do you mean version?” Dick sputtered.

“I’ve seen all of you, Dick, took a nasty little trip around the multiverse, met a lot of you,” he spat out bitterly. “I don’t think I need to know more.”

“Jason!” Dick finally grabbed him.

“Hands off!” Jason snarled dangerously.

“Fuck No.” Dick spat out furiously; now Jason knew he had hit every possible button to have Dick Fucking Perfect Child swearing at him.

“I have a green throw pillow on my bed, I stole it from your bed after you died. I have that picture from that terrible camping trip we fought the entire time about, and I have it framed next to my bed. I hated Tim so much when he pushed me being Robin and I refused to do it because you had died, that when he took it, I stole it back and ran away to San Francisco to try to stop him from being Robin. I did that because I thought you’d die knowing that some other random kid took up the mantle to die again. I can’t eat ice cream anymore, it makes me cry, because it reminds me of you. And I was a shit brother, I know it, and I know Babs and I made your life hell, and I had Wally and Roy join in on that front for the hell of it, because I couldn’t stand that Bruce might love you more.

“Bruce tried to be a father for you. He was working so hard at being a dad that I hated you for that. I hated that you were making him more of a Dad, to us, than he’d ever been when it was just me and him. And God how I despised that you were so different from me, so reckless, and dangerous, but goddamn it Jason, I died when you were killed. **You. Are. My. Baby. Brother.** **_And If I Have To Fight You To Prove That, I Will!_**

“I missed you growing up! I fucked up with you, and I will never live it down, but Goddamn it! You need to try here too, because I can’t lose my baby brother again!”

“ ** _You threw me in Arkham!_** ” Jason roared finally, that hatred and pain bubbled up dangerously as he shoved Dick off of him. “ ** _YOU Threw Me In Arkham! Didn’t Blink Twice About It! You Tried To Kill Me To Save Tim! You Trapped Me! YOU DID IT!_** ”

“But I didn’t,” Dick murmured.

“Does it fucking matter?” Jason spat out. “They did it, so what’s to stop you!?”

Jason had had enough Dick Graysons for a thousand lifetimes. But with the Pit bubbling particularly close to the surface, and Dick’s pushing for family he couldn’t take it. Bruce was one thing; Dick was another. And Goddamn Dick but Jason was still hurting, and the Pit was still oozing at the surface. Bruce, Dick, Alfred, Tim, Damian, they all fucked with his head in different worlds. But the person who hurt the most, was the one standing right before him.

Jason glared at Dick dangerously then. “ **Why The HELL Should I EVER Trust You?** ”

“Because I’m **_not_** them,” Dick answered softly.

* * *

 

Dick really didn’t know how to react to Jason’s sudden outburst. Jason seemed to be fine when Dick had entered the kitchen but now, now Dick didn’t know where he was standing with Jason.

The worst part was his little brother seemed so damn painfully conflicted about everything that it was tearing Jason up. Dick could almost see these sudden outbursts, the sudden conflicts swirling around his little brother’s head tearing him up physically. The worst part was that Dick didn’t know how to reach Jason, not when Jason didn’t even seem to know what was going on with himself emotionally until he was lashing out or crumbling. And Dick would bet that the Pit had a lot to do with that.

“But You ARE Them!” Jason countered.

“My favorite color is blue, I like falling, I love it, I try to be a better big brother because of how I was with you. My best friend is Wally West, I met him when I was fifteen, and I met Roy that same year. I hate the rain, despise how depressing everything gets with the rain, but I can’t really imagine moving away from Gotham despite the constant rain. I’m completely in love with Koriand’r and will marry her.

“My favorite cereal is Lucky Charms, I hoard it here because Alfred won’t let me buy it. My favorite movie is French Connection with Gene Hackman. I can’t sit still for five minutes unless sedated, and it took me damn near twenty years to figure out how to read.

“I have missed you everyday you were dead and gone to me, and I have missed you everyday that you choose not to be with us. Give me something Jason, because I can’t lose you again. I can’t. I will do whatever you need me to do, to prove I’m not them, but… Give me something.

“Anything.”

“Why?” Jason repeated harshly. There it was, Jason teetering on the edge of his own turmoil, Dick could see Jason’s confusion about this situation and it seemed to be his own inner confusion about himself. At least that’s what Dick saw.

“Because you’re my baby brother. And I don’t know what’s tearing you up Jay, but I want to… I want to be here for you,” Dick supplied uncertainly.

Jason glared skeptically at him and waited a long minute. Dick didn’t mind, if he had to spend all of eternity in this moment to prove to Jason just what he meant to him then so be it. But whatever was tearing his little brother up, whatever Jason’s demons, he didn’t want Jason facing them alone anymore.

“Jay, I don’t know any of what you’ve been through, but… You’re my brother, and if I have to wait for forever for you to trust me, I will.”

“Why is this important now?”

“It will always be important. And I don’t know what is going on with you Jay. But I’m here.”

Jason just looked a thousand years old and exhausted then. he looked away and all Dick heard him mutter was, “Fucking Pit.”

So the outburst had come out of nowhere for Jason as well… That had Dick wanting to say something. Instead he just smiled tentatively and asked one word: “Tea?”

What the hell had Jason lived through to have him always topsy-turvy with his emotions? Dick wondered; because it took more than the multiverse to do this kind of damage.

* * *

 

Jason hated the Pit, he hated how ragged it was running him at the moment. Just a few hours ago he’d been at ease with Bruce, but now it felt like he had been pitched into the garbage disposal or something merely because Dick had walked into the room.

He was tired.

Tired of this ring-around-the-rosies thing that the Pit did with him and his psyche. He was exhausted from having every bad memory at the ready with a moment’s notice. And he was so fucking drained from it!

God it was impossible for him to keep up with his Pit issues, his issues, and life with how drained the Pit was leaving him right now. And a part of him kicked him for lashing out at Dick after spending hours with Bruce, Damian, Terry and Helena without lashing out. He didn’t get this. He couldn’t keep up with his own moods. It was starting to piss him off; if he didn’t happen to be so fucking exhausted he’d have been angry with himself.

Everything felt Topsy-Turvy at this moment, with his head at least.

He didn’t like it.

“I wanted to thank you, Jay, for saving my family.”

“Whatever,” Jason sighed as he sat at the table tiredly and his sandwich in front of him. He wasn’t hungry anymore but he forced himself to eat.

“Have you ever thought about talking to a doc about the Pit and it making you bipolar or something?” Dick asked softly as he set the teas down between them.

“Won’t work, already had all that shit shoved down my gullet at Arkham,” Jason muttered sourly. If anything, meds made it worse.

“You can talk to me Jay,” Dick said.

“I hate the Pit,” Jason responded. He didn’t look up at his brother, he didn’t even know why he thought of Dick as his brother.

But he was so tired. So very tired of fighting his family, of fighting the one thing he wanted the most. He was exhausted from it.

“I don’t understand what you’re going through, but I get it Little Wing,” Dick said softly.

“No you don’t,” Jason sighed and finally dragged his head up to look Dick squarely in the eye. “You Don’t Get A Damn Thing Dick.”

“Try me,” Dick challenged.

Jason mulled this over and he decided that he could tear Dick apart with a simple introduction with what happened to the Pit being in his mind. Or he could remain silent.

Jason was inclined to remain silent about it.


	29. Time for New Starts

Oliver found himself reluctantly seated in Bruce Wayne’s office, after walking after the father. The man had carried the baby with him though. The kid was kind of cute, but the wide somber eyes were unnerving to Oliver. But his focus was on Roy.

Bruce put his baby down in a crib set up in the office before walking to the desk. Felicity seemed to be nervous about this, and Digg was standing even more stiffly behind them than ever. Digg looked torn between tearing this mansion apart and remaining where he was. Oliver had the same conflict in him as well.

“How’s Roy? I mean, I know that he’s here but I just… how is he? Is he coping well? Is he alright? Has he heard from Thea? No, don’t answer that, just tell me how Roy is!?” Felicity babbled, and Oliver touched her knee lightly in an attempt to calm her down.

“Roy is alright,” Bruce cut his wife off calmly. “Roy showed up at the beginning of this month. He had a child with him. His daughter.”

“I…”

“I know who you and your family are,” Bruce cut him off. “Roy, Arsenal, member of the Arrow family and the Queen family.”

Oliver paled rather rapidly then. No one in Star City; despite what they had thought, could prove it.

“I am not reporting you, your son, is a good friend of my son,” Bruce said.

“If you know who we are how do we know you aren’t going to go to the cops?” Digg asked coldly.

“For the same reason you won’t go to the cops with my family. It’d be a hassle having the League’s two biggest backers in prison for being vigilantes.” The moment that Bruce said that, his tone, it took that commanding, grunge filled, smoker’s voice that always sounded like it was scraped from the depths of Gotham’s criminal underworld.

“You’re…!” Felicity sputtered.

“And You’re Overwatch, the JL has been after getting you to operate with us, but your husband has always held out. You are the best hacker in the world,” Bruce supplied; again sounding like the upper elite of Gotham and rather level. “You son, Roy, he came to the Manor, with his daughter, Lian Harper, the biological daughter of Jade Nguyen. He came here after Thea was killed by an unknown enemy under the alias of Prometheus. I believe I have located the whereabouts of her body, in Ireland.”

“Thea…” Oliver managed as it felt like there was a knife twisted in his gut.

“I am sorry for your loss,” Bruce said softly.

Oliver felt the tears welling up at the thought of his little sister having died, and god did he hate this Prometheus man. “What happened?” he grounded out.

“From what little Roy has told us, he called Thea for help when he was in over his head. Thea helped him and Lian escape, from the assassins known as Deathstroke, a.k.a. Slade Wilson, and Cheshire, a.k.a. Jade Nguyen. The unknown leader, Prometheus, would later bring these two to come and attack my home and my family. Prometheus’ whereabouts are unknown.

“Last night though, Lian was kidnapped and Roy did come to rescue her,” Bruce said.

“Can we… can we meet Lian?”

“Yes.”

“Can I speak to Roy?” Oliver asked tightly.

“Yes,” Bruce said as he stood. “though I believe it should just you me, and Roy, Oliver, I do not believe that this is a conversation that will require Mr. Diggle or Mrs. Queen to begin with.”

Oliver nodded.

“I will show your wife to the nursery, Lian has been staying with my youngest two,” Bruce said as he walked over to the crib and picked up his daughter. Oliver nodded at Felicity to go. Digg would keep her safe, though Oliver was pretty sure that Wayne Manor was probably more secure than the Pentagon or an A.R.G.U.S. base.

Oliver took this time to gather his wits as he leaned on the desk heavily.

His little sister, dead. His and Tommy’s sister. Oh God, he’d have to call Tommy, tell Tommy, he didn’t know if he could. Losing Laurel had just about destroyed Tommy. Tommy was barely able to move on. If it hadn’t been for Mia, and now the tentative situation with Cissy. He was barely healing, even after all these years what had happened with Laurel, the loss of Thea, that was going to destroy him. As it was destroying Oliver.

He looked up when Bruce walked back into the office again.

“I am sorry about Thea,” Bruce spoke softly.

“I knew,” Oliver admitted. “There was this pit in my gut, I knew. I just… I didn’t want her to be dead.”

“Roy is alive,” Bruce said softly.

“And I don’t know how to feel about that,” Oliver admitted looking up.

“I don’t know how to feel about it either,” Bruce replied.

“He’s still…” Oliver started.

“He’s yours, and that’s where you start,” Bruce stated cautiously.

“You…”

“Jason,” Bruce cut off before he could really clarify his question. Oliver nodded. “I was told it will not be easy, but we have to be patient.”

“And who told you that?”

“A demon,” Bruce answered.

Oliver just sighed as he accepted that that was meaning Raven. Oliver still wasn’t sure how to feel about Raven. She was a dangerous. And Oliver had seen what dangerous demons were capable of.

“And you trust her?” Oliver asked shakily.

“With every single one of my kids,” Bruce said with an obvious reluctance. Oliver accept the answer as the door was opened and in the room, on the bed was Roy. “Be gentle.” Was all Bruce said before he walked out.

Roy looked up, his green eyes were large and lost, which had Oliver slowly walking over.

“I’m sorry,” Roy gasped, and suddenly the young kid was sobbing which had Oliver walking over as he clasped the kid’s shoulder. Roy was so damn thin, and that unusual as he pulled the younger boy to him.

* * *

 

Raven tilted her head up when she finally roused, her nose twisted a little and she felt the other weight in her bed which had her looking up at her company.

“You’re still not wearing a shirt,” Jason pointed out.

“I will have you know I am half mummy right now and wearing sweat pants,” Raven counted as she reluctantly peeled her eyes open to look at her company.

“True,” he nodded. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got stabbed and drained about half my blood,” Raven yawned.

“I… Thank you,” Jason said.

“For what?”

“For… not dying?” he offered.

“Ah, thank Roy Harper for that, as the asshole was the one burned my vein shut again,” she clarified for him as she dragged herself upwards against the pillows. She sighed a bit. “He cauterized the wound, and was the one to help remember I’m not human.”

“What do you mean?” Jason asked.

“I mean last time that something like this happened to me, Roy saved me. So he knew how to do this for me again, this time around.” Raven looked tiredly over to Jason.

“You mean you tried to kill yourself before?” he asked dumbfoundedly.

“Yup,” Raven answered absently as she gingerly pulled the bandages on her chest down a bit. The only scares she ever had were inflicted on her person, to actually scar and never heal right, were the ones she inflicted on herself when she was a demon. Everything else healed up flawlessly, her punishment for harming her demon though was the reminder. “I’ve tried before.”

She revealed where she had stabbed her own heart to keep herself from killing Lobo and the universe.

“What the hell, why didn’t I see that before?” Jason demanded touching the bandages.

“The only scars I get are when I’m a demon, and I Hurt Me. No one can hurt me, only I can really hurt me,” Raven said humorlessly.

“And Roy saved you from that?” he asked.

“Mmm, it fucking sucked that time too, oh God it hurt,” she moaned. Then she smiled a bit at Jason. “Look, I’d do it again. It hurts, but it’ll heal, once I have a bit more magic it’ll heal faster. For now though, the runes and seals are coming back. That’s draining.”

“They come back? That’s the henna?” Jason asked.

“Henna, never had it described like that,” she sighed as she lifted her good arm up and looked at the seals and runes. They did look like henna, moving henna as it moved over her skin, forming knew seals and old runes. It was… normal. To her at least, rarely was the magic that sealed her more dangerous and darker natures visible. “Yeah, the seals return, they kind of belong on me. Breaking them takes a lot more energy than it takes to have them return. Azar and my mother designed them to return.”

“That’s… odd?” Jason decided.

“That’s the hazard of being a sealed up demon Jason,” Raven sighed.

“Still, you… you almost died.” Jason managed to make that sound less like a devastating event and more like a reluctant fact.

“I do that. And you have zero room to talk as I know you take bigger risks than me,” Raven snapped sharply. “Jason I’m not judging. But you can’t hang this over my head. I would choose to do this again, without thinking twice about it, because this is what I do with my demon. It isn’t like when I was too little to pull up the power required more emotion, now it requires a hell of a lot more control. It hurts, that’s all it is. Painful, lethal, but I’m not likely to die from it.”

“Uh-huh, that’s why you were trying to bleed out,” he growled dangerously.

“I did that to save everyone else, because trust me Jason, unless I’m the one to do it, you aren’t going to be able to stop me. I’m not normal Jason, I’m the most dangerous thing there next to my father. I am not able to be stopped.”

“What does that mean?”

“I mean that if I wanted to, I can drop Superman like a fly. You can’t kill me, you can’t stop me and what I am. I am a demon Jason, and despite what you think I am, and what I can be, because I can be more than what I am, I am a demon. I am pain, death and destruction, I cannot be stopped if unleashed. So, I stop me,” she smiled. “Good old mortal wound to an artery or an organ.”

“You mean that,” Jason sounded terrified then.

“Yeah, I mean it.”

“Roy… he seriously did save you?”

“Serious as a heart attack, yes Roy saved me.”

“I don’t know if I should scream at you or just go thank Roy for saving your ass.”

“Go thank Roy.”

“Rae…” he sighed.

“No, I’m serious Jason. Go, go thank Roy. I think that if you stop looking at him as the asshole teen he was, and seeing him as an addict, you will find that the two of you could be real friends. And I think, that the two of you need that a hell of a lot more than anything else right now.”

“Rae, you’re my friend,” he started.

“And I’ll always be your friend, Jason, but you actually do need a social life and a real life, I’m not a social life. Roy and you, you two might really hit it off.”

“And what the hell am I supposed to do with Roy? Drag him to live with me, help his raise Lian? Help him get sober? Stay sober?”

“Why not?”

“Raven I barely have my shit together, and most days I’m not playing with a full deck as it is!” he snapped.

“Jason, I adore you, you are my best friend, but I think you should go talk to Roy, you two might be able help each other out.”

“Hardy har, har,” he grumbled.

“I’m am serious Jason Peter Todd, now get your ass out of my bed, I got to change these bandages, and I don’t need you seeing my tits,” Raven stated.

“I’ve already seen them.”

“I do know a hellish dimension,” she warned.

“I’m going I’m going.”

“Go talk to Roy!” she ordered as he walked out; he waved her off as he exited. Raven sighed as she let her eyes shut and winced at the residual pain.

* * *

 

Felicity was in love, as she sat in the rocking chair, the baby was wrapped up in her arms, and staring at her large, solemn eyes.

“Roy sure did make a cute one,” Digg commented.

“I think she’s just precious,” Felicity decided.

“Lian. Why of all the names would they pick that?”

“She’s a pretty little thing,” she smiled as she stood.

The door opened, and Oliver walked in tiredly, Felicity looked up at her husband. He just stood there pale and shaky which had him staring down at her.

“Thea is dead,” Oliver managed tiredly.

“What?”

“She… Roy…Roy called her for help, Prometheus, he killed her. Threw her off a cliff, she’s… she’s in Ireland,” Oliver murmured.

“And Roy?” Digg asked tightly.

“He said he’s not coming home,” Oliver stated tiredly.

“Why wouldn’t he…?”

“No, I, I think I need to talk to him,” Felicity said as she stood. She walked past her boys, and she walked down the hall. Felicity got it, she knew what was going on in Roy’s stubborn head. Roy was always annoyingly easy to understand for Felicity. However she also knew how much he cared about Oliver’s opinion about him. And right now Roy no doubt knew just how far he had fallen and thought he was a irredeemable. Her blonde hair was swinging as she walked down the hall. She paused a moment seeing a tall young man, taller than Oliver with black hair walk into the room she was betting to be Roy’s.

Pausing Felicity looked down at the baby as she smiled at Lian.

“It’s okay baby, we’ll talk to daddy and get this all sorted out, but we got you sweetie.”

* * *

 

Jason walked into the guest room, his hands buried in his pocket as he entered. The other occupant of the room wearily looked up then, his red hair sweaty and matted, those green eyes were void, and his lean face looked hollow. But pity didn’t swell in Jason’s chest, no, he didn’t do pity.

“You look like shit,” he stated.

“You here to rag on my ass about the obvious?” Roy asked wearily.

“Actually no,” Jason grabbed the desk chair, swung it around to straddle it. “I’m here with a proposition.”

“And why would you help me?”

“Because I fucking owe you, and I don’t like it,” Jason snapped.

“Owe me how?”

“Look, Rae is the first friend, real friend, I’ve ever had. You saved her,” Jason stated. Raven should have been dead, had it not been for Roy’s quick thinking and quick actions, she would be. That didn’t bode well with Jason. It also bothered him that Roy, who had actually acted like a father, wasn’t willing to give it a shot for Lian. Jason was rectifying that, because he had seen what happened to Roy in other worlds when Roy lost his daughter.

“She’s my friend too, Jason,” Roy snorted.

“Yeah, but you’re not hearing me Roy, she’s the **_only_** friend I have. And you saved her,” Jason iterated this carefully. It was bad enough, so many other people had the wrong impression he didn’t want Roy to get the wrong idea either. “Also, you’d be a damn good father, for Lian.”

“Jason,” Roy sighed.

“Shut up. I’m here to offer you an out. Because you’re at a crossroads and I know how I’d feel if I had only these two options. You can go live under house arrest with Oliver Queen and his merry band of assholes, which sounds far more stressful than the Bats. Or you can give Lian up to Oliver and go to the sober house and pull your shit together, never being her dad.

“Both of these sound like recipes for relapsing again to me,” Jason stated carefully.

“And what would you know about it?” Roy snorted.

“My mom was an addict, heroine is cheaper that chemo,” he stated blandly which had Roy’s face falling a bit. “Look Roy, I don’t like you, you don’t like me, but if you don’t want to relapse, and to work your program, and keep Lian, I’m offering help. An Oliver free area.”

“And how could you possibly promise me that?” Roy asked skeptically.

“You and Lian can come live with me,” he shrugged. Jason hadn’t had the easiest time coming to this conclusion, but he was sure that Roy; unlike Wally, wasn’t completely intolerable, or irredeemable. Also, Lian was pretty fucking cute. Jason knew what addicts were like and he was sure he could spot it if Roy relapsed, also, his place; at least the place he was thinking of moving to if Roy agreed. There was also Ace to consider now, and with his hip and ribs as fucked up as they were; again, he wasn’t going to be working anytime soon.

“What?”

“You work your program, live in a sober environment, and prove you can stay clean you can even go back to the Titans,” Jason shrugged.

“You’re serious?” the older man lifted his brows.

“Dead serious, you keep your kid, who you’ll want later, and you live sober, no Oliver and Company,” Jason offered.

“And what’s it going to cost me?”

“I already told you, you work your programs, you’ll have random drug tests, and a sober living environment. I also got work for you to be doing to keep your mind off the no drugs and alcohol thing.”

“Work? I’m not doing hero…”

“I never said it was hero work.” Jason stared levelly at Roy.

“What are the other conditions?”

“Well, because I agreed that if you did this, Oliver and Felicity wouldn’t know where we were I’d take Lian to them to visit, monthly, you don’t have to go,” he shrugged.

“Lemme get this straight, you’re willingly going to help me out, after everything that happened between us the first time you were alive?”

“As a mutual friend of ours so eloquently pointed out ‘the past is in the past, we can’t change it’. Also, you’re not as much of an asshole as I remember,” Jason admitted.

Roy snorted.

“Now if it was Wally in your position, I’d pitch his ass out of the window,” Jason admitted.

“You’re serious?” Roy asked.

“About pitching his ass out a window? Totally.”

“No, about this arrangement,” Roy clarified.

“I wouldn’t have offered it if I wasn’t serious.”

“All this because of Raven?”

“Partially, and partially because…” Jason trailed off with a shrug.

“Because what?”

“Because I could have ended up like you, if B hadn’t plucked me off the streets, made me Robin, then I died and everything else that’s kept me from ending up like you. In a different life though, yeah, I could have ended up like you, and that scares me.” Jason looked levelly at Roy then. How Roy had turned out scared Jason a lot. “Also, I’m not your friend so I won’t let you get away with shit if you start thinking about relapsing.”

“Hm… I, I think I need to think on this,” Roy admitted.

“Go ahead. Offer dies though the moment I leave the property,” Jason stated standing up as he left the room.

“Hey, you got a place already?”

“Yeah, big warehouse, in a Bat free and Arrow free city,” he answered turning to Roy. “On the river too.”

“Where?”

“It breaks my Gotham heart, but New York City.”

“What the!?” Roy sputtered. “That’s not Bat free!”

“It was New York or Boston, and as much as I like Boston, I don’t want to attract attention. Roy Harper, Oliver Queen’s wayward ward, and Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne’s wayward ward, it’d stand out. New York, we’re invisible,” he shrugged.

“You have a fair point,” Roy muttered.

“Think on it, I’ll be here for a bit,” Jason said as he left the room.

* * *

 

Roy hadn’t needed much time to think about Jason’s offer.

He would have impulsively jumped to say yes, but he had held back. The reason being the Arrows.

Roy wasn’t a fool, he had seen how much stress Jason had been with the Bats, and the Bats alone. But the Bats compared to the Arrows, well… the Arrows were just hell.

Oliver, Felicity and John, they were the core. Tommy too. Emiko, Artemis, Mia, Conner, William, Sara, Dinah, and… Thea, well, not Thea anymore. Thea was dead. Still, Roy wasn’t sure he could leave them, but he also didn’t think he could tolerate being imprisoned by Oliver to keep him sober. That would be a fast way to have him relapsing.

There was a light knock on his door which had him lifting his head as Felicity walked in, in her arms was his tiny bundle of pink, safe and secure to his relief. Roy also had to do what was best for Lian, and as much as he was coming to love that baby, he didn’t know if he was what was best for her.

“Hey Roy,” she smiled at him. Roy smiled at Felicity, because she was the best of all them. She was so fierce and kind, she was so real, and loving. Felicity was so pure, even in this life, she was the only person Roy could claim to be pure, even after all the evil.

“Hi,” he said uncertainly.

“She’s a little cutie!” Felicity smiled as she turned the chair Jason had vacated and handed him Lian. Roy stiffened as he took her. Though he had had her for about three, almost four months, he hadn’t ever really held her. Now that small weight was in his arms, and she was real, as she stared up at him with wide, trusting dark eyes.

“So, Roy, have you thought about coming home?” Felicity asked.

“Uh… about that…?” he started tracing his daughter’s cheek. There was a lot of Jade in her, but… Roy could see himself too.

“I know you and Oliver haven’t been on the best of terms, and despite what happened to Thea, he still loves you, Roy,” Felicity said softly.

“She shouldn’t have died,” he muttered.

“Roy, Thea’s death isn’t your fault, even Oliver knows that. And Oliver really wants… wants things to be better between you two, you’re his son,” Felicity smiled softly.

“I, I don’t think for my sobriety that it would be wise to be around Oliver right now,” Roy admitted. Oliver and he always seemed to fight. And Oliver had Conner, Emiko, Mia, and William now, he didn’t… Oliver didn’t need him. Not that Oliver ever really had a need for him.

“Roy,” Felicity sighed. “We want what’s best for you,” she said softly.

“And Oliver isn’t what’s best for me,” Roy admitted. “I need to get sober Felicity. Get my shit together, for me. I can’t, I did it last time for the Titans, this time…. this time I gotta do this for me.”

Felicity looked saddened by this and he looked away. She had been like a second mom to him, despite her only been a little bit older than him.

“Jason made me a good offer,” he admitted looking over to her.

“Really?” Felicity looked a bit shocked.

“Yeah, I stay sober, Lian and I can live with him, he’ll bring Lian to you guys monthly,” he said carefully.

“Are you sure Jason is the most stable person?” Felicity asked.

“He’s not a raging homicidal maniac, and he’s… he’s not Oliver,” Roy said carefully. He actually didn’t know anything about Jason beyond him being the Red Hood and one of Raven’s best friends. Which was a feat not to take lightly as Raven wasn’t one to really make best friends.

“Roy I just want what’s best for you,” Felicity started.

“And I’m thinking that this might be what’s best for me,” Roy said. “Someone who doesn’t know me, and I don’t know, in a city without Arrows, and someone looking out for Lian. He can’t be that bad Felicity, Raven wouldn’t be his friend if he was.”

“Alright, I support you Roy, but, even if you don’t talk to the family, I expect weekly calls, and if you skip them, Roy William Harper, I will hunt you down and don’t think there’s a place you can hide on this planet I can’t find you, I am Overwatch!” Felicity warned.

“Yes mom,” he chuckled.

“Oh, and just so you know… I filed the adoption papers,” she smiled.

“What!?”

“Yeah, after Oliver and I tied the knot, Tommy helped me out, but… you’re mine Roy,” Felicity smiled nervously.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” he admitted.

“It doesn’t change anything, I got the papers for Conner and William too,” she admitted.

“What about Artemis, or Mia, or Emiko?” he asked.

“Artemis isn’t adopted, or a ward, really, she should have been, but now she’s a legal adult, we only have pull over her because she’s only twenty and still Oliver’s apprentice, plus we’re paying for her school. And Mia is Tommy’s ward,” Felicity rapidly filled in.

“So you’re my mom?” he tested that out.

“Yup,” she smiled.

“I’ll… I’ll keep in touch, Felicity, but I’m going to get sober, after that, after that, I think I could maybe fix things with Oliver, this time,” Roy said uncertainly.

“Alright, and I’ll keep Oliver at bay, you know how bullheaded he is.”

“Yeah, I blame Lance,” Roy admitted.

“Quentin is very stubborn,” Felicity agreed.

He smiled.

“You do what you need Roy, you got my support.”

“Thanks do you think you could send Jason back?” Roy asked. “I’d go, but I don’t think Alfred or Raisa would have my head.

“They are the true powers of these families,” Felicity mused. “I’ll get him. And you, and my granddaughter stay here, bond!” Felicity ordered as she kissed his brow and was up and gone.

Roy just looked at Lian.

“I’m warning you now, kid, I don’t think Jason or I will have a fucking clue as to what we’re doing here.”

* * *

 

Felicity walked out of the room, and she saw the young man walking for a different room and she jogged after him then.

“Jason!?” she said.

The tall young man turned to her, his eyes were blue but there was that ring of green she recognized from the Pit.

“Yeah?”

“Look, I don’t know you, I don’t know what… you been through. I just, I wanted you to know, that Roy, he’s really a good guy. You just… please be nice to him.”

“He saved my only friend’s life,” Jason turned on her and he stood unnervingly tall then. “He saved her and he didn’t think about what she was, he saved her. I owe him. And I don’t mind giving him help if he needs help.”

“You mean…”

“Look, I’m not going to harm him. But I’m going, I’m going to help him out. Best as I can.”

“Who’d he save?”

“Raven.”

“Oh,” Felicity managed. She didn’t know much about this but she hadn’t… she hadn’t ever thought about what Roy would do for his Titan friends, she hadn’t thought he’d leave them to die, but she hadn’t ever really thought about what’d he’d do for them.

“Alright, if you help him I need you to help him, and I need you to keep me in touch with my granddaughter, you need to keep him good. Please watch out for him, and keep him steady. He’s going to need help. I just… please be good to him.”

“He saved Raven, I’ll do whatever I can to help him,” Jason shrugged.

“Good, here’s my number,” Felicity lifted her number, on a receipt to him. She hadn’t thought she’d be handing him the number she gave all her kids.

“Why do I…?” Jason said.

“I’m pretty sure he said yes t your deal,” Felicity smiled.

“Uh…” Jason blinked at her.

“I’m going to expect calls, and texts, I’ll take emails to, just… expect to be getting in touch with me,” Felicity smiled as she sauntered off.

She didn’t know entirely what was going to happen, but she was all for keeping track of her kid.

* * *

 

Jason couldn’t keep up with his own emotions as he looked at the number scrawled in bubbly hand writing. This was fucking exhausting. He didn’t know what to do with these emotions. They were tiring. He honestly didn’t know how to keep up with them.

Sighing his head fell back and he walked into the room.

Raven was examining her left arm, which had a nasty burn on it which stood out on her startling pale skin.

“It looks worse than it actually is,” Raven dismissed. Jason noticed the button down shirt hanging off her shoulder and she smiled slightly.

“I’m tired,” he finally murmured.

“Need to talk?” she offered.

Jason just stared at her for a moment then he nodded slowly.

“Alright.” She turned somber and her large dark eyes stared at him seriously.

“I’m getting whiplash,” he finally said.

* * *

 

Roy stared at Lian as he stood alone in the room. there was a light knock which had him turning.

“Oliver?” he managed, seeing the older man walk in with a somber expression.

“I just… I don’t hate you, for what happened to Thea,” Oliver said.

“I…”

“We’ll figure this out, Roy,” Oliver said. “Not right now, but… you’re family too. And, you need to heal.”

“I… didn’t mean to get her killed,” Roy admitted weakly.

“I know,” Oliver clasped his shoulder and Roy crumpled into Oliver then as the sobs hit him.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I wish it was me,” he managed.

“We’re going to figure this out,” Oliver said as he just hung on and arms were wrapped around him. Roy didn’t know how to take this.


	30. Do You Want to Build A Snowman?

Bruce winced when the baby monitor cackled, there were sounds on the other end, which had him yawning a bit, Selina mumbled against his chest as he sat up slowly. His fiancée limply fell onto the pillows, Bruce walked out of the room to the nursery. It had taken a lot of bribery in the past day to get Selina to let Terry or Helena out of her sight; Lian too, though Lian was monopolized by Felicity usually.

Scratching his head he entered the nursery, yawning as he entered. He stiffened seeing someone looming over one of the cribs, but slowly relaxed noticing that it was his guest.

Bruce turned off the baby monitor.

“Hey kiddo, I’m your… Oliver?” Oliver said uncertainly.

“You can just say grandfather,” Bruce stated as he sorely leaned over at the huffy infant to see Terry staring at him with large, sleepy, ice blue eyes.

“I’m barely thirty-six, I can’t be a grandfather,” Oliver said.

“And I’m only forty-one and father to a twenty-five year old who’s going to be having his own kid soon,” Bruce yawned as he picked up Terry. Terry yawned too.

“How… How do we do this?” Oliver said.

“I don’t know,” Bruce admitted as he took Terry over to the changing table. Diapers! He had never before had to deal with a child in diapers.

He should have done this for Damian, Bruce remembered wanting to do it with Talia; once, long ago when he was younger and dumber. And he fancied himself in love with her. Perhaps he had always loved two women, perhaps that was why he had never been able to stay with Talia and make it work. Especially after they had lost their first child. That child would be twenty-one right about now. Bruce wondered if that possible child would have come to him and his family, or if having that child would have changed his entire family dynamic.

Still, Bruce had a feeling that just maybe he would have still gotten all his other children, and still gotten Selina. He could see that he and Talia just would not have worked out. Not that it stopped Bruce from wondering if one day they might have worked out.

No matter, he was going to marry Selina. He probably always was going to marry Selina, even when they were twelve years old and she stood there with that all knowing smirk. Selina had stolen his heart ever so effortlessly, and though they had fought bloody and hard over the years Bruce had gotten her finally. Perhaps the wait was more than worth it, because no doubt there was going to be another fight in the coming future with Selina. He and Selina couldn’t seem to not fight, despite however well they got along.

“Felicity wants kids,” Oliver said suddenly.

Bruce grunted.

“But how can I be a dad when I continuously fuck it all up? I fucked up with Roy, God I don’t know how to do this! Connor, William and Artemis are only normal because of Felicity! And Digg!” Oliver gasped.

“Don’t look at me for answers,” Bruce said when he felt the younger’s eyes on him. “I make up all this shit as I go.”

Oliver laughed, and Bruce finished the diaper change before setting Terry on his feet.

“Jay.”

“Rae,” Bruce answered his son absently and Terry toddled out on unsteady legs with a single-minded determination Bruce found adorable and hilarious. He would bring up the humor in this situation though, only AFTER he was sure Jason was likely to run for the hills at the mere thought of being a member of this family. He was still on very unsteady, rocky ground with his second son.

Cass walked by the door with Terry who seemed just as happy in his eldest sister’s arms as he did in Jason’s.

“Thank you,” Oliver said suddenly.

“For what?” Bruce asked he picked Helena up, in his arms, as she started to fuss, she was going to need her diaper and bottle, then he was talking to Selina about possibly just marrying her today. Today while his family was all here. They could do the circus wedding later, the one for the public but this one, he felt that he should do it today before Jason bolted again.

“For helping Roy when I can’t,” Oliver said tiredly. “I, I don’t think I could live if he and Thea were both dead.”

“Roy is always welcomed,” Bruce said.

“How is it, that our kids get along better than the League does?” Oliver snorted humorlessly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Arsenal and Nightwing have been friends since Nightwing was Robin, as has Kid Flash, and none of the kids have ever breathed a word about secret identities, they hang out and are friends. Meanwhile, in the JL, I’m sure you knew who I am, but you’d have never told anyone about who you were. How do the kids have more trust than we do, and we’re the adults?” Oliver clarified.

“I think, that the youth do not intend to make the mistakes we have,” Bruce said softly. The bond between the younger generations was forged in the League’s blood, sweat, and tears, but there was something more for the younger kids. A hell that they had faced and bonds were forged in that hell. “You should stay, for the day.”

“You serious?”

“Yes, tomorrow will be a good day to return home, have Christmas with your family,” Bruce said.

There was a door slamming, a hell of a lot of swearing, a curse in Romani, shouts in Arabic, then a crash, a scream, and Bruce sighed. Tim, Damian and Dick were all up.

“WILL YOU MORONS SHUT THE FUCK UP!” a voice bellowed.

“Language Master Jason,” Alfred’s prim voice cut through all the curses.

“And I thought mine were bad,” Oliver chuckled. Bruce glared at the younger man as he picked up a freshened-up Helena. Oliver picked up Lian and they walked for the kitchen.

* * *

 

Felicity walked into the Wayne dining room in her Doctor Who pajama pants and one of Oliver’s sweaters and the chaos that greeted her stopped her in her tracks.

There was a blonde with curling rollers in her hair, a redhead with green tinted skin dressed in a bright red robe. Bruce with his baby at the head of the table, an older man Felicity knew to be the family butler to the right of Bruce. A young foreign woman besides Alfred, her black hair cut in a pixie style. There was a young Asian girl, whom Felicity recognized from the socialite pages as Cassandra Cain besides Bruce, in her lap was a year old, or there abouts baby. Then there was Dick, with his girlfriend, Kori Anders, all her black curly hair everywhere, and chocolate skin.

“Kori you don’t have to wear the image inducer here,” Tim yawned appearing. Half his hair was standing up.

“The Manor is for the civilian lives, Master Tim, though I must say that if you do not wish to wear it you may remove it, Miss Kori, there are no paparazzi here,” Alfred chimed.

“I forgot I was wearing it.” The woman removed a ring and suddenly her skin was amber and her hair literal flames at the end.

Jason brushed past her, a young woman leaning heavily on him, her form ungodly pale… no, grey, that cloud grey, almost ivory, or pearl white. The girl was the one from the papers, her dark eyes were somber and her waist length black hair straight a board.

“JAY!” a child squealed.

“Duck,” Jason answered.

“Waffles?” the girl yawned.

“How about pancakes?” Jason supplied.

“I was promised waffles.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Why waffles Raven? Does it have to be waffles?” the youngest kid asked. His black hair was standing on end, and his olive skin tone flushed.

“Do not mock my need for waffles,” Raven stated.

“Just sit your ass down little bird before you fall on it!” Jason snapped.

“Don’t talk to my daughter that way,” the redhead snapped.

“Yeah!” The blonde shrieked.

“Language at the dining table,” Alfred chided.

“Morning,” Oliver greeted her as he kissed her cheek.

“I didn’t know there were so many,” she hissed to her husband.

“Sit, eat, before the hoard takes it,” Selina ordered as she slipped by. She watched as the lithe, curvy woman sauntered by, her dark brown hair also a pixie cut. She slid onto Bruce’s lap, taking the baby and smiling a bit. Felicity followed her own husband to the table. Roy appeared, also very tired and pale.

“Oh, that’s where she is,” Roy yawned as he sat beside her.

“Here, you can have her, she’s a very good little girl, Roy,” Oliver said tightly.

“Um… I was thinking of making her middle name… Thea,” Roy said tightly which had Felicity biting her lip.

“I think… Thea would have liked that,” Oliver answered, his voice wavered slightly.

“Thea was more her mom than Jade,” Roy blurted out.

“Is it always this crazy at the table?” Felicity asked which suddenly had all eyes on her. Her brain to mouth filter proved broken once again though as she felt her face heating up. “Not that it’s a bad thing! No! I just… We never really have crazy breakfasts, and I have never seen this. Not saying that we don’t have breakfasts as a family! I eat with Connor, Will, Artemis and Emiko every morning! Tommy and Mia too when they come! Oh and Digg! Oh God, Oliver! Save me!” she demanded as she slammed her hands on her mouth.

“I don’t know about normal breakfasts here,” the blonde piped up. “Ivy and I just adopted Rae, we here for a bit, I like the chaos feels like the Asylum!”

“You would know,” Damian snapped.

“We would know, shorty,” the redhead, Felicity was guessing was Ivy, stated icily.

“To answer the question of Mrs. Queen, yes, we eat family breakfasts daily, for the family that is here, and family dinners weekly,” Alfred supplied.

“Still?” Jason yawned. “Oi, little bird? You alive?” Jason waved his hand before Raven’s face and Felicity noticed that the young woman was propped up on her fist and snoozing.

“Rae never was a morning bird,” Dick grinned as he picked up a spoon.

“Do not even think it Richard!” Kori snapped.

“Aw come on! she’s never vulnerable! Empathy and everything!” Tim whined.

“I’ll do it!” Jason grinned deviously.

“Leave the poor girl alone boys,” Selina chided.

There was a dangerous thwack of a knife breaking Jason’s plate which had Felicity’s head whipping around to see Cassandra glaring dangerously at her brothers.

“Leave the girl alone,” Bruce ordered.

“Yeah, it’s always a madhouse here,” Roy said softly.

“I like the madhouse,” the girl with the Mediterranean complexion spoke with a distinctly British accent.

“Maybe you should come live here,” Tim snorted.

“Maybe,” the girl nodded.

“Good to see all families are a little nuts,” Felicity mused to her husband as she accepted a platter of French toast.

“It’s different,” Oliver agreed. She noticed his eyes were soft and longing on Roy, Roy seemed to be shaking and just had eyes for Lian. She softened a bit more, as she squeezed her husband’s knee reassuringly.

“Good morning,” Digg walked in.

There was a knife thrown past Digg’s head.

“You MISSED!” one of the boys’ shouted.

“Shut it Drake!”

“No Knife Throwing At The Table!” Alfred’s voice was stern and seemed to settle the boys as Digg just stood there looking baffled. Like that first time Sara had announced she was going on a date with girl, or when JJ had decided to start archery, or when Barry had first zoomed before them.

“Is it always this nuts?” Digg asked sitting.

“Apparently,” Felicity said sadly. They had to still talk about Thea and she didn’t know how to bring that up. They could talk about it later though as she looked at her little family amidst the chaos of the huge Bat family.

* * *

 

Selina had made herself very comfortable on Bruce’s lap long after his kids and the Queens had vacated the dining room. Helena was taken with Alfred and Julia; Terry had faithfully tried to follow Jason, only to be taken by Cass. Tim had disappeared somewhere for a case of his, and Dick was with Kori for the day. Damian had trailed after Jason and Raven. Ivy and Harley were wrapping Christmas gifts, with every intention of being here for Christmas; they also were calling the JL and demanded that Victor be here as well. Selina was interested how they were going to accomplish that one, but too comfortable on her lover’s lap to move.

She smiled softly at him as she slid her fingers through his heavy black hair, and wondered how the hell that dorky twelve year old was the badass man she loved.

“What are you thinking about?” Bruce asked her, his hands were linked on the swell of her hips keeping her where she was.

“I’m thinking about us, and when we were twelve years old,” she admitted. “You were this dorky, awkward, gangly kid, who I wanted to keep safe,” she admitted this with amusement as she stared at him. “I just never expected you to end up with so many kids, or that I’d love them, or that we’d get here. I honestly thought you were a tool,” she chuckled.

“I thought you were the prettiest girl I had ever seen and you were going to kick my ass,” he said softly.

“Mmm, yes, uncontrollable curls that stand out every which way, very sexy,” she mused dryly. She had hated her hair as a child, she had gotten used to it though, the riot of curls it always seemed to be. Now she just preferred the pixie cut because it was easier to handle and maintain; it was still a riot of wild curls when it crew out.

“I thought they were gorgeous, still do,” he said, her lover’s face was far too serious then.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Marry me, today,” he said.

“We’re barley engaged!” she protested.

“Mmm, we’ve known each other for thirty years Selina,” he pointed out. “And I want to do this, with my whole family here, because they’re your family too.”

“Bruce,” she sighed.

“I want to do it while Jason is here too,” he said softly as he traced her cheek.

“That’s…” she paused and thought about it. They didn’t know when Jason was leaving, but he would. Jason was too much like her to stay. He had always been like her. Hell, she had even thought at one point that a child between her and Bruce would look like Jason. Which had her straddling Bruce’s lap.

“I have a condition to marrying you,” she said suddenly.

“There’s not going to be anyone else Selina,” he started.

“I don’t care about Talia, Bruce, Damian is my Robin now which makes him Mine, not hers, but that’s not what I want if I marry you today,” she said.

“And what do you want?” he asked, his hands rested on her ass and she smiled at him.

“I want Jason.” She said it softly as she stared at her lover’s icy blue eyes. They widened a bit then. “He was always mine. And I should have watched out for him more when he was here the first time. The only reason I never hovered over him, like I did Tim, he was like me B. He was like me.” She mused humorlessly. “Jason’s my Robin, always was. And I don’t think that bitch, whore, cunt, slut Sheila Haywood,” she spat out venomously. “Should EVER have another claim at him. I don’t care if you forge the papers, I don’t care how you do it, even if you futz with the DNA tests, just… eliminate her ties to him. He was always mine, I would like him to know it before he leaves.”

“Selina,” he started.

“Please,” she whispered. She should have done it the first time he accidentally called her mom. The way that had made her heart swell, and the way her world narrowed to that little boy. That was her boy. She was sure of it.

“Did you know he called me mom, once?” she asked him suddenly.

“What?”

“Yeah, he was, oh he was still so new and shy and terrified that you were going to throw him out. It couldn’t have been more than six months after you had found him, and I mean, I had always hung out with the other Robins as civilians, and did it frequently with Dick when he was with you. So, I had fast talked him into coming out with me for ice cream,” she chuckled. “He was so tiny, and his curls! Oh, the curls Bruce, they were everywhere! And his freckles, he was just… he reminded me of me. He didn’t think he should go, didn’t want to upset you.

“But I got him to go, and we went for ice cream. Because that would be our thing.

“Jason was getting it everywhere, oh the mess Bruce,” she chuckled. “I was helping him clean up, so you wouldn’t know. And he blurted out ‘Thanks Mom’, completely sincere, completely genuine, and so unexpected, and I swear the blush on his face. It starts with his ears, you know, and then his whole face slowly goes red,” she giggled.

“I know,” Bruce said softly, there was a smile on his lips then.

“First and only Robin to call me Mom,” she said. “And I should have asked you to let me in then, but we were younger, dumber, and he was mine already. Then Sheila came…” she sighed sadly. “I should have never let him doubt me.”

“I shouldn’t have let him doubt me either,” Bruce said softly.

“I want Jason,” she said softly.

“Talk t him, then I’ll work on the papers,” Bruce said.

“Oh, so you did learn from the little bird?” she chuckled.

“Raven was very… eloquent about what she had to say.”

“Glad someone gets through that thick head of yours.”

* * *

 

Jason had claimed the spot by the fire, he had kind of dragged Raven along to. He hadn’t really wanted to relinquish her to Harley and Ivy for their Christmas wrapping and her blood loss had her just sleeping. Which was why she was using his back as a pillow as he laid sprawled out before the fire reading a new book in Bruce’s library. Cass had joined and was using the his other side as her own pillow. Raven was so out of it she probably wouldn’t have noticed if he strapped her to a rocket and sent her to the moon and back.

Terry was currently using his head as a prop to stand and look about, Jason tolerated it because the kid seemed so damn proud of standing on his own.

Definitely B’s kid, definitely. The stubbornness had emerged along with the singled minded, bullheaded determination that only Waynes appeared to have.

Damian had claimed a chair close to where they were.

“Why do you tolerate McGinnis using you as a prop?” Damian sneered.

“Same reason I tolerate your annoying ass.” Which was honestly still an entire unknown to Jason. He just never really hated kids; he knew he was a sucker for kids. He had always been a sucker for kids. And he wasn’t fond of being a jungle gym for Terry, he knew that the kid wasn’t all bad. Just so long as he didn’t break anything, Jason didn’t care about what the kid did.

“Is Raven supposed to be this still?” Damian asked.

“I don’t know, but she suffered major blood loss,” Jason stated. He was pretty sure she was going to sleep on and off for a solid month before feeling normal again. It wasn’t like she could get a blood infusion, from what Tim had said Raven was one of a kind and her blood was also unique. It was also not a match to any blood the JL had on hand, and he didn’t know where else to get demon blood; except a demon, and Jason didn’t think any of them actually had the skills to summon a demon to drain it of blood to help Rae out.

“Tt, she is an imbecile,” Damian muttered.

“Be nice, she saved baby brother and baby sister,” Cass chided. And Dick’s kid, Jason mentally added. “And Lian. She was brave.”

“She would have died!” Damian bristled

“Hey! Sunshine’s sleeping, so shut it!” Jason snapped at Damian. He didn’t need Damian rehashing all the worries that Jason had had about his friend and her seemingly stupid decision to slit her artery and try to die after summoning an apparently unstoppable demon.

“Will Raven live with you now?” Damian asked.

“I don’t see why she’d be living with me,” Jason said as he looked back at his own book. Terry clambered onto his shoulder; jarring it a little. There were bruises which had Jason wincing slightly.

“You kissed her.” Damian stated this with gleeful pride which had Jason momentarily reeling.

After **_everything_** that had happened, the kiss with Raven was the furthest thing from his mind. And it wasn’t even something that he wanted to think about. **Raven had nearly died!** **_DIED!_** **She should be in the damn grave! _And the little demon spawn was obsessed about a kiss!?_** Jason reached for the pillow he had snagged as he jarred Cass and Terry off of him, replacing the pillow for himself for Raven so she didn’t get an added concussion before he grabbed Damian and hauled him out of the library.

“Unhand me!” Damian hissed.

“You zip it, you little twerp,” Jason snapped as he shut the library doors and got Damian into the office that B used the most.

“What is it with you!?” Jason finally snapped. Fuck getting even with his asshole family about Raven and him being something that they wanted to set up. Jason didn’t need to get even right now. What was important was that Raven was laying in the library after having almost died not a whole day earlier.

“What?”

“You, and this idea that Raven and I should get together!” Jason snapped.

“I…”

“Damian, I’m not a fucking moron! But did you ever stop to think that maybe, a relationship should be between two consenting adults who know what the hell they are getting into? Or two people that actually are ready and want a relationship?” Jason demanded. He wasn’t mad, he really wasn’t, it was hard to be mad at the twerp, but he was frustrated. Jason was so not in the place to be in any sort of relationship with anyone! Hell, maintaining his thing with Rose was a challenge, and that was just straight up hate sex!

“Because you are happy with her!” Damian snapped.

“Happy has nothing to do with why I hang around her,” Jason stated calmly and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he stared down at the kid.

“I like being normal,” Damian muttered.

“Ah, normal,” Jason sighed then rubbed a hand tiredly over his face. “Okay, demon spawn, listen up. I’m aware of Raven,” he said. “As a woman, have been, since I was about sixteen and she pranced around in that damn leotard. Very well aware of her, Damian.”

“Then why don’t you just…” Damian started and Jason caught the kid’s head and tilted his face up.

“I’m also exceedingly aware of myself, Damian, and I am way too fucked up right now to even want to be in a relationship with anyone beyond friendship.” Jason admitted this tiredly.

“Why?”

“Damian, I’m a liar, I’m a thief, I’m a cheat, I’m a killer, I’m a bastard, I can barely keep myself together on a good day. I’m not good for anyone else right now.” Jason admitted this tiredly. “Relationships, they are work. A lot of work.”

* * *

 

Damian stared at his elder brother for a long moment, and then he opened his mouth. Jason knelt to his level then.

“Look, you like being normal, but pushing it on me, or Raven, it’s not fair. It’s not fair, especially to you. So you got to accept that this thing, between Raven and I, it’s our decision. Pushing it because you want it, it isn’t fair to us. And I get it, you got the shit end of the deal because B and Talia are a fucking flaming wreck. They always were.

“But B’s got Selina, and she’s great at the normal thing if you let her help you out,” Jason smiled a bit. “Dick and Kori are pretty fucking normal too; sappy, but normal.”

“I just…” Damian sighed. “Are you sure you noticed Raven.”

“I’m a sucker for legs, and bad ass women, trust me, I noticed her kid. I also am just smart enough to know myself and it’s a bad idea.”

“Then why would you sleep with a harlot like Rose,” Damian sneered at the thought.

“Because she’s hot, she’s got legs, the sex is fucking awesome, and neither of us want more than what we’re getting,” Jason said.

“That’s disgusting.”

Jason snickered then. “Oh, trust me, when you get older you’ll get it.”

“Dick has never had that.”

“Pretty sure he has, you just don’t know about it,” Jason said levelly.

Damian frowned, he didn’t get it, he did not understand this at all. “Sex can’t be that important for you to sleep with a harlot like Rose.”

“Don’t knock it until you try it,” Jason shrugged. Damian sneered at the thought, that was not appealing; at all. He did not think that it was wise either. “Look, you pushing Raven on me, or me onto Raven, it’s not right, kid, and we need you to stop.”

“You’re blind idiots.”

“I’m not blind, Damian. I’m just no good for anyone,” Jason ruffled his hair. “You’ll get it, when you’re older.”

“I doubt it.”

Jason’s lips twitched. “Don’t be so sure. You’d be surprised what you could do when the time is right, and the person is right too.”

“You really should just date Raven. She clearly has terrible tastes in men, she dated Garfield.”

“Mmm, Damian, let me dating Raven go. If it happens, it will be because we want to date, and not because you are pushing it. Pushing it will only further to annoy Raven and piss me off,” Jason said.

Damian looked at his brother’s eyes then. There was something about the way Jason was looking, forlornly and melancholy that had Damian pursing his lips.

“Do you mean it when you say you are attracted to Raven?” Damian asked.

“Dude, trust me, the girl is my type,” Jason snickered then. “So stop pushing Damian, if it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t, at least I don’t wreck my one friendship.”

“Fine,” he grumbled.

“Thank you, now go annoy the shit out of someone else because I’m exhausted,” Jason yawned as he stood.

“You are an acceptable brother,” Damian decided.

“I’m not your brother,” Jason stated absently as he walked out of the office. Damian sighed; Jason felt more like his brother than Drake or Dick had when he had come here earlier. And he wanted his idiot older brother happy. Raven made Jason smile, he also liked the normal he felt around them.

He might not push it right now, but Damian was not giving up.

* * *

 

“Heyya squirt,” a voice purred which had Jason reeling around to look at Selina.

“Selina,” he blinked a few times.

“Jay, I wanted…” she sighed. “Look, you’re my Robin.”

“What is it? I didn’t do it! I swear to God if it’s B I’ll help you tar and feather him, I’m sure Stephanie has bedazzler or something and we can wreck his batsuit,” Jason supplied rapidly.

“No, no, kid, it’s not B,” Selina chuckled. “It’s you,” she smiled softly.

“Well I didn’t do it.”

“Jason, I wanted to ask you, would you mind, if… if you were mine?”

“Huh?” Jason blinked a few times and the gears slowed in his head as he stared at the smaller woman.

“You were always my Robin, but would you like to be my kid?” she clarified.

“You want to adopt me?” Jason sputtered incredulously. First Bruce shoved the adoption papers at him and now this. Jason’s head was reeling from this as he was only twenty-one.

“You were always mine, I’m just asking if you mind me futzing with your birth certificate and removing Sheila,” she said.

“Why would you want to do that?”

“Catherine raise you right, kid, but you are my Robin, and I… I should have known about Sheila, and how you wanted a mom. I thought you always knew you were mine, but… I just don’t want you to question it Jason.”

“You want to claim to be my birth mom?” he said dumbly.

“You could pass as mine. I mean, the curls,” she chuckled. “And the freckles”

“I…”

“I’m not replacing Catherine, but I… I always thought you knew you were my Robin.”

Jason just stared at Selina for a long moment. There was a time, when he was little, when he had fantasized that she was actually his mom. And oh how he had craved it, wanted it to be so, because Selina… she was awesome, and she never lead him on or let him down.

“I… I always wanted you to be my mom,” he said softly. “You know, when I was little.” He winced at the needy tone his voice had.

“Then you’re mine,” she smiled. “And I’ll have B fix the birth certificate, if anyone looks twice at it, I’ll say I was told I lost you.”

“Why do you…?” he started.

“Cause Jaybird, you’re my Robin, us kids from Crime Alley got to stick together, and I want to. I always wanted to, I just wish I had done it before Sheila had come about.”

“That wasn’t your fault,” he said softly. “I chose,” he started.

“You were a kid, and B and I were supposed to look out for you. Alfred, and Dick too. You were a child Jason, you should have never been put in that situation, and she put you there. Sheila Haywood knew what she was doing, she was the adult, she knew damn well what she was doing, and she manipulated and took advantage of you because you were a kid,” Selina said.

“And you still want me after everything?” he said uncertainly.

“You were always mine kid. I just wanted to pretend to give you a choice,” Selina smirked.

“That’s more like you,” Jason softened.

“Good, now you’re mine,” Selina kissed his cheek. “Merry Christmas Jason.”

“That’s the day after tomorrow,” he pointed out.

“I know.”

“Thanks Selina,” he said softly. “For everything.”

“No problem.”


	31. We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Jason stretched out beside his bed partner, and heard it before he sensed it. There was a silent whoosh of sound which had his eyes snapping open and he saw the shadow creeping towards him. The shadow leapt, he rolled up to catch the intruder to yank them off the bed, leaving his companion where she slept as they crashed to the ground.

“Little brother is good,” was all he heard as he stared into the dark somber eyes of Cass.

“Fuck! Don’t Do That!” he snarled quietly and let her up as he peeked over the bed’s edge at Raven. Raven didn’t even stir as she slept. She barely moved, and if it wasn’t for the steady rising and falling of her chest then he’d have thought her dead.

“It’s Christmas! Time to get up!” Cass grinned.

“Argh,” Jason groaned as he rolled onto the ground and rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes and wondered if it was too late for him to make a run for it. He wasn’t sure about this whole family Christmas thing, but as he had made a promise to Raven he wasn’t letting her down. Again.

“Get up!” Cass ordered excitedly again.

“Alright, alright, I’m up!” he surrendered as he slowly got to his feet and walked to the other side of the bed. Raven didn’t even twitch which just had him grabbing her and a blanket, she yelped as her eyes shot open, and flailed for a moment.

“Jason! What the hell!?” she sputtered then yawned.

“Christmas, and if I have to go, you’re coming with,” he warned her.

“I just want to sleep,” she sighed.

“Oh fuck no! just cause you tried to kill yourself early doesn’t mean you’re weaseling your way out of Christmas, especially if I’m stuck having to go as well.” He just stared at the bandages on her left wrist.

“Once all the runes are back to normal I’ll heal,” she sighed.

“I know,” he said carefully. She had told him. She had explained it all very carefully. “Doesn’t mean I can’t worry about my only friend and her self sacrificing ways.”

“Well, it’s not the end of the world is it?”

“No, why?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she yawned.

“You’re a bitch, queen,” he warned her.

“And you’re a bastard, what a pair we are,” Raven mused tiredly. Jason just sighed as he resigned himself to accepting that she was going to match him step for step with the caviar attitude regarding their lives and the value of their lives.

“Hurry up!” a huffy boy shoved his hip which had Jason looking down at Damian as he was pushed into the family parlor where Christmas for the Waynes was held.

Jason blinked at the sight that greeted him. Kori was levitating over Dick, Dick and Tim were sprawled over the couch. Cass was perched up on the back of the chair, B’s chair. Damian shoved him and Raven into a chair, Jason waited a beat before getting up and putting Raven; who was sound asleep again, in the chair before sliding to the ground. The Amazons had materialized in this room too, Diana took her seat; the one beside Bruce’s chair. Donna sat beside the tree, eyeing it with extreme interest. Cassie pouted as she flopped down beside Tim. Damian huffed and Jason blinked when the kid flopped beside him, propped up on his shoulder.

“Sorry we’re late,” Selina yawned.

“Nonsense Miss Kyle,” Alfred said, and she walked to him as she dropped an envelope in lap with a wink.

“What?” he blinked up at her.

“The conditions for me to marry B have been met,” she smiled softly, and she bounced Helena.

“I don’t…” he started.

Bruce walked in with Julia and Terry then and Jason blinked a few times. “Alright, but I think you’re a bloody wanker for doing it now.”

“Today, the media can do it next,” Bruce said.

“What’s that?” Dick asked.

“Selina and I are getting married, today,” Bruce said calmly which Jason felt Damian stiffen at this.

“What!?” Damian managed.

“Kid, it’s not for you,” Jason whispered. “And Selina’s cool, have an open mind,” Jason said to the kid. Damian stared up at him with wide, serious eyes, and Jason nodded as he looked at the envelope.

“But, I have a mother,” Damian sputtered.

“And I’m not replacing your mom, kid, but I love your dad,” Selina said. “And we’re only doing it today, because ALL of you are right here, right now. After the last week, I think we can appreciate how dangerous and short this life can be.”

“Fine,” Damian scowled.

“Here’s your sister,” Selina said dropping Helena into Damian's arms unceremoniously before she sidled up to B.

“JAY!” Terry squealed.

“Duck.”

“He only likes you!” Dick whined.

“Because you’re a dickhead, Dick, and the kid knows it!” Jason smugly replied as he took Damian up.

“No fair!” Dick pouted.

“So when is the wedding!?” Diana demanded.

“This afternoon, a few family friends will be here,” Bruce said. Jason frowned a bit at that information, a party of people was one thing he could handle because he was practically guaranteed good company with Raven, but family friends meant: Jim Gordon. Jason was still not thrilled about possibly running into the police commissioner. He still had mixed feelings about Bruce.

“I will be there.” Diana decided.

“Present time!” Selina decided as she stretched out over Bruce. Jason noticed then that his original stocking was hung at the fire place.

“Yes! It is the time for giving of the gifts, and then we shall celebrate the marvelous occasion of the BatCat wedding!” Kori decided gleefully as she dropped beside Dick.

“Everyone shall be receiving gifts, guest first, then youngest to oldest,” Julia Pennyworth announced and Jason just nodded.

“I believe Jason should receive his gift first,” Damian piped up.

“Why?”

“It’s breathing,” Damian answered.

“WHAT!?” Jason sputtered, he was a bit concerned as to what Damian could have gotten him.

* * *

 

Dick smiled looking at his family on Christmas morning. Raven was sitting with Jason, Selina was lounging in Bruce's lap with Helena in her arms again, Terry at Bruce's feet, Damian and Tim were squabbling, Stephanie had joined them after presents, and sat with Cass looking curiously over her shoulder at the gifts Stephanie had dragged here before opening her own gifts. Donna, Diana and Cassie were examining their gifts, Kori was stretched out beside him, and he savored having her under his arm, curled up in his side. Alfred was sitting at the head of the family sipping tea he and Julia had made this morning.

"What The Hell Am I Supposed To Do With A Puppy!?" Jason shouted after Damian had unceremoniously given Jason his gift. Dick snickered at the gift for it beat Damian's original intentions, and the German Shepard puppy was already trying to gnaw on Jason's hand.

"I am told I cannot give you a person, so Kyle said to give you the pup," Damian said.

"It's a sweet gift," Kori giggled.

"Ow! Teeth!" Jason hissed. "And what person, what!?" Jason blinked at this news and Dick looked to where Raven was as Raven sleepily scratched the puppy's ears.

Kori tilted her head back and smiled at him, he grinned as his hand slid down her body and rest where their child was. It was when they got through the presents and the Amazons had gone to go get breakfast together that Dick looked over at Bruce.

"Now?" he whispered in her ear. Wedding or not, they weren’t going to be able to hide the pregnancy much longer. Especially not when Kori had already developed a bit of a stomach in the past weeks.

"Now is fine," she agreed.

"Now is fine for what?" Bruce roused then, Selina looked up from where she was sitting with the girls and babies. Jason didn't look up as he tried to get the puppy off him as the pup had decided to play tug of war with Jason's pants. Raven rouse a bit only to shut her eyes again. Alfred lifted a brow and Tim looked up from the new computer he had received. Damian frowned as he continued sketching with Titus and his new black and white kitten; a gift from Alfred.

"Kori is pregnant," Dick grinned.

"Really!? That's great squirt!" Selina was up first and smiling. Dick smiled as the family reacted with joy to his news as Kori grinned and talked about her pregnancy gleefully. “Today is just full of celebrations!”

"What?" a soft whisper had him turning around as he looked into the wide blue-green eyes of Barbara as she sat in her chair.

"Babs!" he chased after her, a glance to Kori and he saw her sadness as she nodded, but Dick didn't dwell on it as he rounded the corner.

"Barbara Wait!" he called after her, and she rolled to a stop.

"I…" she twisted around to look at him.

"I was going to tell you," he said awkwardly. "But with everything that happened, with Shelia, and everything else with Jason, I just…"

"No, you don't owe me an explanation," she started, he caught her chair as he leapt around to kneel before her.

"Babs…"

"I'm happy for you," she cut him off with a weak smile. "I don't know, I just, I always thought, never mind," she shook her head.

"We were the end game," he supplied for her. Barbara's eyes flicked to her lap and he sighed.

Once upon a time he'd have thought he and Babs were the end game, that they were the long haul, that there was nothing that would get between them, that nothing would break them. But, there was the Joker, and just like the Joker had stolen his brother from him, the Joker had taken Barbara from him. True, she was still here, and he liked to consider Babs to be one of his best friends, but, they had died the moment the Joker paralyzed her.

"That we were the end game," she agreed softly.

"Babs, you," he started, and he sighed as he let his head drop. There was nothing he could say to her right now.

"Do you love her Richard?" she whispered.

"What?" he looked up at her then.

"Do you love her, Richard?"

"I… yeah, Babs, I love her," he admitted. He had always thought he knew what love was, and it had broken his heart, then Kori, Kori had come crashing into his life, in all her fiery glory as she stood tall and proud, she had been everything he didn't wish for or want. But he was pretty sure Kori was everything he had ever needed.

"I never wanted to," he said softer when Barbara looked away from him. "I was in San Francisco, and Jason was dead, you had just shouted that you never wanted to see me again, and I thought I'd never love again. I thought you were the love of my life Barbara."

"I," she started.

"I thought what we were was indestructible, you were my best friend, you were the first girl I ever kissed, the first girl I pictured a future with, the first friend, real friend, I had after my parents died. But, I guess I wasn't everything to you," he gently said as he stared at nothing in particular. He couldn't describe what Barbara had been to him, because honestly, he had thought what they had was real love. He knew better now. "You're still my friend Babs, and I'll always be here for you, but, Kori… that's it, she's a done deal. I've never felt what I feel for her for another, and I love her. Barbara, I love her."

"Richard," Barbara touched his cheek which had his eyes snapping back onto hers. "I'm happy for you. I'm… I'm happy you found love, I'm happy you moved on, and I'm happy you're starting a family. I just, I need some time.

"You're still my best friend, but, I'm going to need some time," she whispered and leaned down.

Dick stiffened when her lips brushed his.

"Goodbye Richard, when I see you again I'll really be happy for you," she said as she shoved him aside and rolled out the door and towards her car. Dick just stood in the open door watching her go.

He shut the door when she was no longer visible, and he sighed as his head fell against the door. his ear twitched when he heard a floorboard shift and he turned to blink at the sight of who had come to him now.

"You know, you and Barbie weren't ever going to last," a deep tenor informed him.

"I would think that would be between Babs and I," Dick said stuffing his hands in his sleep pants pockets as he stared at Jason.

His younger brother snorted. "Please, with how you all butt in my life I think it's fair I state a few facts about this mess you made of your love life."

"And what about you and Rose?"

"That's not love, that's fucking, and I suspect she's going to try to kill me next time I see her," Jason shrugged. Dick's eyes landed on the stiches Jason had still from his last run in with Rose.

"And why do you think you have a right to comment on my love life?" Dick asked.

"Because you fucking suck at noticing the obvious."

"This from you," Dick snickered. Oh, he'd love to rub Jason's face in that later but the bland look his brother gave him had him quirking his brows.

"You all really think I don't know about Raven?" he asked blandly.

Dick opened his mouth and shut it. Jason just gave a huff as he dragged his hand through his hair.

"Look dickhead, I'm smart enough to know it's there, I'm also smart enough to know that it's a stupid thought to act on it, right now. I'm not as stupid as you think I am," Jason shrugged.

"Well it's easy to believe you're dense," Dick pointed out.

"Whatever, my love life isn't the mess right now, yours is, and if you're smart you'll prevent it from ending up like B's," Jason said as he came to lean on the wall.

"It's complicated Jaybird," Dick said evenly.

"It's really not as complicated as you and B make it out to be," Jason countered.

"And why do you say that?" Dick demanded sharply. His entire love life was a fucking mess! True he was getting things detangled between him and Kori, but this latest Barbara nonsense had likely bungled them back up; again. Kori was his everything, and Barbara was his past, and everything was complicated and difficult to navigate.

"Because I saw the way you looked at her six years ago, and you never looked at Barbara like that," Jason said which had Dick stiffening. "I didn't flirt with Kori because she's my type, or because you made it a part of the Red X persona, I did it because it pissed you off in a way me flirting with Babs never did."

"Jason," he started.

"You don't get it, so shut up and listen. I've seen a lot of worlds, seen a lot of lives, visited a lot of dimensions, Dick," Jason said. Dick frowned, because Jason had shared as much in his fury. "And there's few things that you always had. One, that pompous ass attitude of being superior and golden boy. Two was this fierce love for family…" Jason trailed off and didn't add what Dick knew Jason had every right to add.

' _Yeah Dickhead, I know you, I know every fucking version of you, and you always have this fierce love for family, everyone in the family, everyone but me!_ ' he had shouted when Dick had blundered into Jason's complicated emotions for everyone and everything around him.

"And Three, every life you would build, it was with Kori, never Barbara. So yeah Dick, it's simple. And you're complicating it because you think what you felt was as real as what you feel for Kori," Jason said. "Like Rae said, 'let it go, it's not real anymore, accept it happened but you can't change it'."

"You know, if I knew the other me's, Jay, I'd punch them," Dick said as he looked at his little brother.

"No, you wouldn't," Jason said. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I broke two of yours' noses, and a jaw."

"Ow," Dick winced and Jason sighed.

"Stop complicating it, Dickhead," Jason said levelly.

"Then you stop complicating it for you too," Dick offered as he looked at his little brother.

"It's not complicated for me," Jason stated coldly.

Dick snorted at that. Jason was the definition of 'complicated'. Raven was too, but it appeared Jason and Raven were sorting their own thing out at their own pace.

"So what would you do in my spot right now?"

"Talk to Kori before she blasted me?" Jason offered. There was a yip and Jason groaned. "Fucking tooth menace!"

"Jay!" Terry appeared with the puppy waddling to them.

"Yeah, yeah, come on Duck," Jason snatched the kid up as he walked back to the family and Dick saw Kori's flaming hair round a corner which had him jogging after her. He made it up to their shared room, his room, and he opened the door to find her grabbing a bag.

"Richard!" she gasped.

"Kori, where do you think you're going?" he asked levelly as he shut the door behind him.

"Home, I…" she started and a sniffle escaped her. "I understand if you wish to be with Barbara, I will be happy for you, but I will have our child," she started. He caught her and pulled her down for a hard kiss, which had her gasping.

"Babs and I were saying goodbye, Kori," he said softly. "You're it for me."

"Really?" she whispered, those burning green eyes wide with uncertainty and Dick remembered the first time she came crashing into his life, how outlandish he had thought her to be, especially with that kiss.

However, nearly seven years of her being in his life, and he couldn't think of a moment she was there for him. A moment with her that didn't have him on his toes or enthralled with living again.

"Kori, you're my girl," he smiled. She made him believe in soulmates.

* * *

 

“Why do I have to be awake?” Raven asked as she rubbed her eyes.

“Because there’s a wedding today, and the family is requiring I be there, which means I require you to be there, and then Harley and Ivy are taking you to the Siren’s hideout with Vic,” Jason said as he watched Raven stumble a step.

“Mmm, you’re a pain in the ass,” Raven decided.

“Hey…” he caught her wrist and she turned to him, her dark eyes stared tiredly up at him.

“Hmm?” she hummed.

“You and I… I know with Damian trying, and failing to set us up, I just…” Jason growled a bit in frustration He didn’t know how to say what he wanted.

“Yes,” Raven answered and stepped in front of him. “Yes, for me too. But…”

“Yeah.”

“Good, maybe someday; not any time soon though, for now, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had, so please don’t fuck it up,” she pleaded.

“Is that so?” he mused.

“Yeah.”

“You’re my only friend, so thanks Raven,” he said slinging his arm around her shoulders as he pulled her a bit closer. “Oh, and before we go back to the hundred percent friends, thing, you should know you have a very sexy body, I especially like your tat.”

“You tell anyone about the tat and I’ll string you up by your toe nails,” she warned.

“So I can brag about seeing your very sexy body?”

“No.”

“Rats.”

“You show me yours then we’ll talk,” she mused.

“Is that a challenge, I feel like that’s a challenge.”

“No, it’s not,” she responded. And Jason smiled as he pulled her into his side. He was really grateful now for having been hired to steal the Book of Azar. He didn’t know if he’d been lonely before having a friend, but he was very grateful to have a friend now. Made it all a bit more tolerable. “Jason?”

“Hmm?”

“Since when was I ever sexy?” Raven asked with a serious sincerity which had him looking down at her again.

“Since I stole the Red X suit, you got legs woman. Long, thick, shapely, gorgeous legs,” he answered bluntly. He didn’t mention they were attached to a very gorgeous set of hips or that ass. He would go back to ignoring the fact she was gorgeous after this talk.

“I thought I was a freak,” she said dryly.

“Unconventionally elegant, that’s a better description,” he said seriously. She was fucking stunning, but her features were an odd, delicate, proud, bold mix.

“Thank you for that,” she smiled.

“Whatever moron called you freak needs his eyes checked.”

“He has eagle eyes at times, so I doubt his sight is wrong,” she informed him.

Jason scowled at that.

* * *

 

Damian stared at Helena as he had been left with the babies as everyone else prepped for the impromptu wedding and he studied her.

She had their father’s eyes, in shape, and probably in color later. There were curls in her hair, that reminded him a bit of Jason’s curls, or Kyle’s. She would have Kyle’s mouth, and his grandmother’s nose, he could see that. But he could also see that he had similar features that she did. She also favored Kyle’s rosy complexion.

Terrance ‘Terry’ McGinnis also had their father’s eyes, in shape, and probably in color. He had inky black hair, and this porcelain complexion, and… and his nose? Damian blinked a few times. He shared a nose with the child, and a mouth. It was then that Damian started picking at the little differences. McGinnis’ features would be more square, but Damian could see a lot of his father and he in the baby.

He looked up when Kane walked in.

“I’m back,” the redhead announced, which had Damian frowning; he did not like Kane.

“We are getting ready for a wedding,” he warned her as he stood, moving McGinnis and Helena behind him. He did not trust Kane either. Especially not with father’s other children.

“Where’s B?” she asked, her hands in her pockets.

“His room, Pennyworth is calling Fox and his family for the wedding.” Damian watched as Kane nodded before she walked out of the room. Damian sat down again and he looked between Helena and McGinnis, his kitten purred happily beside Helena.

The surge of protectiveness he felt towards them startled him.

In the League of Assassins, his blood was everything, they were his blood, and he would protect them from the League of Assassins. No doubt his mother would come after them. He would have to protect them. He was their blood. They were his too. Damian still was not sure how to feel about them, but if this was how Dick felt towards Cain, Drake, Jason, and him, then Damian had a feeling that this was what it would be like to be a big brother.

There was also Dick’s spawn coming into the world.

“No on will harm my family,” Damian decided as he looked at McGinnis. “Even you,” he admitted with mild disdain; and even Drake, he admitted silently.

Perhaps this family was not all that bad. It was unlike anything else. Perhaps they could be ‘normal’ and he would not be forced to hurt them ever. Damian just wanted the normal Reyes, and Allan now, spoke about so lovingly. Or the normal Jon knew. Damian just wanted that simplicity and that peace. He might not get it with Raven and Jason, but perhaps… just maybe he could really find it here.

* * *

 

“You look like a moron,” a terse voice announced.

“Kate,” Bruce acknowledged. He looked up to see her in the mirror behind him as he did his tie up. Her high cheek bones, squared jaw, and cleft chin were all gifts from the Kane bloodline, but her sherry red hair, emerald green eyes, and that pert, straight nose, with her thin lips, made her exceptionally beautiful. It was a fiery contrast with her porcelain skin tone.

“I completed the mission, there are no more traces of Mary McGinnis’ ova samples, or your samples either,” she said as she shrugged off the door frame to him. her blood red lips curved in a smile. “So, married?”

“Yes,” Bruce answered.

“Congrats,” she said.

“You can stay for the ceremony,” he informed his cousin tightly.

“Rather not, I got things to do, people to see,” she shrugged.

“Thank you  Kate, for taking care of that,” he said. Truthfully, after he married Selina, and if another child of his should show up through unknown means, he could see Selina putting on a hell of a show for the media and chewing him out about leaving his blood everywhere.

“No problem, I’ll join tonight’s patrol,” she said as she walked away.

“Alright then,” he nodded.

“Talk to you later Bruce,” she decided as she walked out. Bruce said nothing as he finished his tie and cufflinks; a particular gift from Selina that she had mailed to Alfred for his eighteenth birthday; of course by then they were both long gone and not even in touch with each other.

“You ready B?” Dick asked appearing.

“Yes,” Bruce answered his eldest; who swung into the door with a goofy grin and a jacket, button down shirt and slacks.

“You and Selina really doing this?”

“Today is the last sure day we’ll have with all of us here,” Bruce pointed out.

“Ah, last day before Jason bolts.”

“Also the last time before you and Kori move away, Tim returns to the Titans and before Jason runs off,” Bruce said tiredly.

“About me and Kori…” Dick started. Bruce stood before him then and grabbed his eldest’s shoulders. “Look, B, I didn’t even know that… it just, happened,” Dick sputtered incredulously. Which had Bruce internally chuckling as his son seemed baffled about this situation.

“You’ve done everything that I’ve asked of you in this situation, and you love her, Dick. I might not be fond of an alien joining the family, but I am very proud of you,” Bruce said calmly. He was probably going to have to start making stronger efforts with all his children.”

“You’re going to be accepting of a hybrid?” Dick asked skeptically.

“It will be an adjustment, but the child is yours, and a member of this family,” Bruce said.

“Thanks, I know that me and Kori… it hasn’t been what you wanted. But I love her, B,” Dick said with a shaky smile.

“That’s what matters,” Bruce said honestly as he and Dick walked together for the area for the family and the wedding.

His whole family was there, and the Amazons, the demon, Alfred, the Foxes had come too, in the hours since deciding on this wedding, and Jim stood there.

Selina stood there in a simple black dress. Jason was there, holding Terry, Damian and Tim were with Jason, Cass had Helena tight in her arms. Lucius was here with Tanya, Luke, Tamara, and Tiffany. Alfred and Julia were also here; a good shock to him. Julia and Alfred’s tentative reunion and bonding had begun only a few years back. Jim was here too, Bruce noticed Barbara wasn’t here as he walked over to Selina with Dick, Dick took Kori’s arm.

“I am pleased to be with friends and among you for today,” Diana started as Selina grabbed his hand. “Families are all unique, and full of love…”

* * *

 

Lex stood in his office staring at the last of the ova material from one Mary McGinnis, and the last cloned sperm of Bruce Wayne. The problem with Amanda Waller was that she lacked subtlety. He had no doubts that this was the reason for Bruce’s other brat in the news. Which had him knowing what Waller had done.

“You called,” a cultured voice asked as he felt her walk in.

“Do you know what makes me the best?” he asked as he pocketed the samples from Project Batman.

“You are a man of true power, the ability to cut down his enemies with a mere flick of his wrist,” Talia Head said as she sat down.

“True,” he smiled and turned to face the gorgeous Arabian woman. Her green eyes were icy cold as she stared at him. “But no, I am the best because unlike Waller I can keep my secrets,” he said.

“Not all secrets stay secret,” Talia said.

“Which is why I have you Miss Head,” he eyed her over carefully. She was a gorgeous woman, athletic, curved in all the right places, and so very dangerous. Even if she hid it well, he could see the edge she had, the edge that her father had possessed before his untimely death. If he could bring her over to the Light then he would win the loyalty of the League of Assassins, something which the Light craved to have.

“What do you need me to do?” she asked.

“I will be needing your loyalty, there is a project in A.R.G.U.S. which I will be requiring the research on,” he said and handed the USB to her.

“For what will we need this?” she asked.

“Because we will be building upon Waller’s ruins,” Luthor smiled maliciously. Oh, the Light would love this weapon. A Bat which would be theirs to shape and mold. It would take time, but Lex had little doubts about what he wanted to do with this. The possibilities would be endless, especially if he got the League of Assassins to help him in his vision.


	32. And A Happy New Year!

Roy slowly stood out of the cab, at the address that Jason had handed him before Jason had taken his puppy; named Ace by Bruce, and bolted. Picking Lian up and out of the cab he watched as the cabbie drove off and he tilted his head back.

The New England winter tore at him, and Lian started fussing unhappily but Roy wanted a moment to stare at where he was.

It was a huge, old, red brick factory or something and they were right on the East River. There were huge inustreal paneled windows, there was a clear dead vibe that screamed abandoned. Why the fuck Jason would pick to live here was beyond Roy. But… It was this or the Queens, and right now this was a better pick for him. Which had him shuffling into the place through the massive black doors.

There was a yip of excitement as Roy kicked the door shut.

“Yo, Jason!” Roy shouted.

“Ow! Fuck! Damn Dog!” Jason roared, then appeared as he was rubbing his shin. In the last two weeks since Jason had run away from Gotham the younger man looked alright. Not better than when he had been in Gotham, but almost lighter. There was a puppy on his heels as he walked towards him. Most of Jason’s bruises were gone, but he was sporting a new cut on his cheek bone.

“Hey Roy,” Jason greeted.

“So… a warehouse?”

“Yup,” Jason looked unexpectedly pleased as he looked around. “From the industrial age, has the original windows, and the original brick on the exterior, there’s a flat roof, needs some structural help, but nothing major. Pretty solid. The bones are good, has amazing water pressure, was redone in World War II, there’s a bomb bunker,” Jason looked a bit pleased about that.

“Dude, the place is a shit hole,” Roy sighed.

“And that is the civilian business,” Jason said turning to him as he wiped his hands.

“What?”

“I got a shit tone of cartel money, and gang money, lots of dirty money,” Jason shrugged. “And this, this seems like a solid way to launder it.”

“Well,” Roy looked around again, no longer looking at the wreck but at the space. This was way more than enough space for two guys, a baby and a puppy. The massive floor lay out, and four upper levels. Roy didn’t know what Jason was planning, but he had a few ideas he was curious if he could implement them. This was way better than the Arrow hide outs.

“Kay, I need a work space, for tinkering,” Roy said.

“Fine,” Jason shrugged.

“You’re serious?”

“You’re living here, you’re not just tinkering, you’ll be a part of the renovation company I’m going to start up,” Jason said seriously.

“Really?”

“Yeah, partners?”

“And what are we going to be called? Red Bat?”

“I was thinking more of a renovation company name, something less conspicuous,” Jason replied.

“You’re serious about this.”

“Yeah, this is the work I was talking about to keep you on track. No vigilant shit for you,” Jason said.

Lian gurgled and giggled as she squirmed in his arms. Roy could only stare at Jason though because, this, this was the first nice thing anyone had ever done for him that wasn’t tied to the Queen family. And he couldn’t help but be a bit baffled that it was Jason who was making the offer after all the pains Dick, Wally and he had put the kid through. But the younger man was standing there, completely relaxed and sincere as far as Roy could tell.

“Jay & Roy Renovations,” Roy said and held out his hand.

“Deal,” Jason took his hand firmly.

Roy grinned a bit. “You know, you’re not that bad as a man, as a kid you were intolerable.”

“You’re still an asshole,” Jason decided, which had Roy’s head falling back as he gave a shakey laugh. Lian squealed with delight.

“And you’re really willing to help with her?” Roy asked as Jason traced Lian’s cheek, Lian grabbed his finger as she babbled baby and stared at it with wonder.

“Yeah.”

“People are going to think we’re gay,” Roy pointed out.

“Who we fuck is our business, not theirs. And I’m really fucking tired of people butting in on my sex life,” Jason sighed tiredly.

“So you’re cool if I bring home random chicks?”

“Stay sober and work your program, I don’t give a shit about whatever else you do,” Jason shrugged. “But if I think you’ve fallen off the wagon I’m taking you to Oliver and Company.”

“Fair enough,” Roy decided.

“And keep the psycho baby mama away, Roy. I’m serious, I don’t want to see Jade here; ever. I’ll kill her,” Jason warned.

“I don’t want to see her ever again, either,” Roy admitted. Things between him and Jade; whatever they had been, they were over. Done. Never going to happen again.

“Now Donna, she’s welcome over. Dickhead is not. Nor any of the other family.”

“Raven?”

“The little bird is free to come hang out here if she wants to. She tends to know where I am,” Jason shrugged.

“Really?” Roy mused deviously.

“You try hiding from an empath.”

“Okay, that’s a valid point.”

“Exactly, telepaths we can hide from, empaths though,” Jason shuddered.

Roy was inclined to agree with Jason’s assessment of empaths and telepaths. He smiled a bit at Jason and had to admit that this was going to work. Jason was very unlike everyone else in the Titans and the JL, which gave Roy hope, hope that he wouldn’t be stranded again. Clearly the JL and the Titans were going to have to change some of their ways so what had happened to him didn’t happen to others. And he had a feeling that whatever approach he and Jason were going to have about this, it was going to help him and others rather than destroy him. Again.

“Thanks for this Jay.”

* * *

 

Raven slept in her new room in Gotham Siren’s HQs which was a comfortable bed, and she sighed in absolute bliss about it. She didn’t think that she would ever get over this comfort as she slept.

The door was thrown open which had her heavily opening her eyes as Victor came in then he was on her bed.

“Heyya Vic,” she mumbled into her pillow.

“Okay, they’re creeping me out,” he said. “Crazy white ladies!”

“Hmm?”

“They set up my room exactly how I like it, even got my sports teams right! It’s creepy Rae!” Victor gasped.

“Mmmm,” she hummed.

“You’re useless.”

“Vic,” she rolled her head back a bit to stare at him.

“Yeah?”

“Just enjoy it,” she smiled.

“What!?”

“You and I never get taken care of, I kind of like their fussing and pampering,” Raven admitted with a  yawn.

“You… we… huh. We really aren’t taken care of,” Victor finally observed.

“No we’re not, and it’s nice. You’re going to the JL by the way,” she stated.

“What!?” Victor sputtered.

“Vic, they need you, they need you way more than we need you,” Raven said as she forced herself to sit up and stared at him.

“Rae…”

“Vic, I’m nineteen,” she said. “And I know, I know you’ve been using me as a reason NOT to leave for the JL, and I know you want to go. You’ve outgrown the Titans, and that’s fine, we all grow up at some point Victor. And you were always going to be in the big leagues, whether it was sports, or this. You’re a real star Vic, a rare talent. And I know that when your dad said that you hated it because it meant you were his project. And I’m betting that you had a call from him again about your limits.

“But, I’m not your dad, I’m your little sister, and you are a star Vic. Let the League see your power, show the world that amazing talent,” Raven smiled at him. “You’re my big brother, show them, kick ass, and be the real star again.”

“And you need to move up too Raven,” Victor said levelly.

“No I don’t,” she chuckled.

“Rae, you got more power than Superman, don’t you think the world ought to see you save them too, be more than a Titan,” Victor said.

“No, no I don’t need the world to see me, Victor. I don’t need the League to see me, or use me, I don’t need to be seen, I never did,” Raven sighed. “I’m amazing Vic, I already know I’m amazing, but Iam also very aware that I’m dangerous. I don’t need the attention, I don’t need to show off what I can do, and I do not need to be put in a situation where I could lose control. It’ll kill a lot more people than Superman ever could,” Raven said firmly.

“Rae, when the time comes…” he said.

“When the time comes, and I can handle it, I will try to join the League.” She didn’t think that Zatanna Zatara would ever allow that, but there were others Raven could work with. Perhaps she could join Constantine and his crusade. Raven could find a way to be helpful, beyond the Titans.

Victor took a deep breath and he stared at her again. “I’m not going until you’re pale ass looks less like a dead bird and you look like you. Also, I reserve rights to come hang out with you whenever the hell I damn well please, I don’t want to hear nothing about it. And if the League EVER withholds information regarding you and your health from me ever again, I’m leaving and coming back.

“You’re my family Raven, and that means I need you to stick around and be that family!” he snapped.

“We got Ivy and Harley now,” Raven pointed out.

“They’re new, but you’re my little sister, and you’ve been my sister since you were twelve,” Victor stated.

“We’re a family,” Raven said. “You and I, we got new family.”

“Family is always good, and we’ll get used to the new family. But, Rae, you’re my baby sister, when I had no one, I had you, you’re my sister.”

“And you’re my big brother. This does not mean you can hang at the Titans for as long as I do.”

“Rae,” he started.

“You’re going to the JL, you’re going to kick ass and take names.”

“I’m a freak Rae! I’m 85% prosthetics and machines and a busted up black athlete, I’m a freak and about to be a bigger freak in the JL by going!”

“I’m a grey demon who can destroy the cosmos, you’re not a freak. You are an inspiration and anyone who says different is going to have to deal with me,” Raven said.

“You’re half dead, Rae.”

“Right now. Gimme a few weeks, then I’ll be back to kicking ass,” she smiled.

“Deal,” he smiled as he nudged her. “Now about Jason…”

“No. N. O. No. We are not talking about it.”

“Rae…”

“No.”

“You just…”

“Nope.”

“Rae, why him?”

“Why do we hang around any of the other crazy Robins!? Like Dick or Tim or Damian!?”

“You raise a valid point.”

“And it’s not like that, Vic, we’re just friends. And staying friends.”

“I saw that kiss.”

“Kiss was fun, and honestly, way better than any of the other kisses I’ve had.”

“I don’t know whether to be disgusted or pleased with that information.”

“I liked it,” she smiled.

“I’m going to skin him alive.”

“No you’re not, **_because_** , he did not touch my boobs, ass, or do anything untoward to me or my person, there wasn’t any pressure, or anything else. It was just a really good kiss,” Raven clarified for him.

“Really? He didn’t touch anything on you?”

“Not even when I was drunk naked apparently,” she said.

“Now I have to kill him!” Victor growled.

“No you’re not, he was a gentleman, you can still go kick Gar’s ass for me though,” she decided.

“Oh, he got skinned alive for that, Rae.”

“I know.”

“Good, now, we’re watching Supernatural, to see Jared and Jensen run after ghosts, and for you to point out why all the supernatural magic shit is wrong,” Victor decided as they settled and there was a holoscreen formed from his thigh for their Netflix binge-athon.

* * *

 

Alice arrived in Gotham after the New Year, she had delayed because her husband had insisted on sharing Christmas with them; though she was Jewish and celebrated Hanukkah with her father.

“Alice, we need to think about this,” Jack said getting out of the cab with her.

“I have, and we’re going,” Alice stated grabbing Jack’s wrist.

“Alice, you’re going to sound crazy!” her husband hissed yanking her around to face him. She stared up at Jack, she had loved Jack since she had met him. But she had only left New York City, the city her sister had disappeared in, when she had gotten pregnant with Mary-Beth and saw her husband’s valid points for leaving the city. But now… now Angela had a child!

“My mom died not know what happened to Angela! Now she has a daughter, a daughter who was with the Waynes, and I don’t care if I’m crazy! He’s got my niece and if that means I tear apart this damn city looking for her then so be it,” Alice shoved off her husband and stalked into Wayne Tower then.

“Hello how can I help you?” a receptionist looked up.

“Alice Doli Roth Williams here to see Mr. Wayne.” Alice stated as her black hair fell heavily down her back.

“About what?” the receptionist asked.

“My niece,” she answered. “Rachel Roth, his son’s girlfriend.”

“Alice,” Jack hissed.

“Mr. Wayne is not taking any unscheduled appointments,” the receptionist started.

“You get him down here or I go to the police about him kidnapping my sister,” Alice snarled.

“Mr. Wayne will not be taking any unscheduled appointments,” the woman pulled herself to her impressive height and Alice glared back.

“I’ll be right here,” Alice warned.


End file.
